Pfizer Covid vaccine ‘over 90pc effective’

Pfizer Inc PFE.N said on Monday its experimental COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90 per cent effective, a major victory in the fight against a pandemic that has killed more than a million people, battered the world's economy and upended daily life, reports Reuters.
Pfizer and German partner BioNTech SE BNTX.O are the first drugmakers to release successful data from a large-scale clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine. The companies said they have so far found no serious safety concerns and expect to seek U.S. authorization this month for emergency use of the vaccine.
Health experts said Pfizer's results were positive for all COVID-19 vaccines currently in development since they show the shots are going after the right target and are a proof of concept that the disease can be halted with vaccination.
"Today is a great day for science and humanity," Albert Bourla, Pfizer's chairman and chief executive, said.
"We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen."
If Pfizer's vaccine is authorized, the number of doses will initially be limited and many questions remain, including how long the vaccine will provide protection.
BioNTech Chief Executive Ugur Sahin told Reuters he was optimistic the immunisation effect of the vaccine would last for a year although that was not certain yet.
"This news made me smile from ear to ear. It is a relief to see such positive results on this vaccine and bodes well for COVID-19 vaccines in general," said Peter Horby, professor of emerging infectious diseases at the University of Oxford.
The prospect of a vaccine electrified world markets with S&P 500 futures hitting a record high and tourism and travel shares surging. Shares of companies that have benefited from pandemic-related lockdowns dropped including conferencing platform Zoom Video Communications ZM.O which was down 12 per cent in premarket trading.
Pfizer shares were indicated 14.2 per cent higher in pre-market trading in New York, while BioNTech's stock was up nearly 23 per cent in Frankfurt.
"Light at the end of the tunnel. Let's just hope the vaccine deniers won't get in the way, but 2021 just got a lot brighter," said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com.
Shares of other vaccine developers in the final stage of testing also rose with Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N up 4 per cent in pre-market trading and Moderna MRNA.O 7.4 per cent stronger.
Britain's AstraZeneca AZN.L was down 0.5%.
"The efficacy data are really impressive. This is better than most of us anticipated," said William Schaffner, infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee. "The study isn't completed yet, but nonetheless the data look very solid."
US President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden both celebrated the news of the coronavirus vaccine.
"STOCK MARKET UP BIG, VACCINE COMING SOON. REPORT 90% EFFECTIVE. SUCH GREAT NEWS!" Trump tweeted Monday morning.
Biden also celebrated the success of the vaccine trial, but also warned that the pandemic remains a problem and will likely continue to be one for months to come.
"I congratulate the brilliant women and men who helped produce this breakthrough and to give us such cause for hope," Biden said in a statement.
"At the same time, it is also important to understand that the end of the battle against Covid-19 is still months away. This news follows a previously announced timeline by industry officials that forecast vaccine approval by late November. Even if that is achieved, and some Americans are vaccinated later this year, it will be many more months before there is widespread vaccination in this country."
Biden went on to remind Americans to continue wearing masks and practice social distancing and other preventative measures.
Meanwhile, The S&P 500 and Dow hit record highs moments after the open on Monday, as news of the first successful late stage Covid-19 vaccine trials stirred hopes of the economy emerging from a year of pandemic-driven crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,144.50 points, or 4.04%, at the open to 29,467.90.
The S&P 500 opened higher by 73.60 points, or 2.10%, at 3,583.04, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 151.43 points, or 1.27%, to 12,046.66 at the opening bell.
Crude oil prices also advanced to about 10 per cent at the pre-open of the U.S trading session, over the Covid-19 vaccine news.
Brent crude prices were up about 9.25 per cent, breaking out of its strong resistance level of $43/Barrel, and West Texas Intermediate gaining over 10 per cent to trade over 40.90/Barrel.
Also, OPEC energy ministers talked openly about the possibility of adjusting their oil-cuts deal, the latest signal that OPEC+ is reconsidering plans to hike production in January.
"With the consensus of everybody, we could navigate with this agreement and tweak this agreement, subject to what we may see in the future," Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman said at a virtual session of the Abu Dhabi International Exhibition and Conference on Monday.