Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech could secure emergency U.S. and European authorization for their COVID-19 vaccine next month after final trial results showed it had a 95% success rate and no serious side effects, the drugmakers said on Wednesday.
The vaccine's efficacy was found to be consistent across different ages and ethnicities — a promising sign given the disease has disproportionately hurt the elderly and certain groups including Black people.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration could grant emergency-use by the middle of December, BioNTech Chief Executive Ugur Sahin said. Conditional approval in the European Union could be secured in the second half of December, he added.