NEW YORK:The chief executive of Germany's BioNTech SE said the biggest challenge facing it and partner Pfizer Inc now that their COVID-19 vaccine is authorized for use in the United States will be to scale up manufacturing to meet huge demand.
"We need to solve the manufacturing challenge," Ugur Sahin told Reuters in an interview. "It is very clear that more doses are needed. And we are dealing with that question - how to produce more doses."
The companies have said they will produce up to 1.3 billion doses of the vaccine next year.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the vaccine for emergency use on Friday, after Britain became the first country to begin deploying the shot outside of clinical trials earlier in the week.
Sahin said he expects the companies will receive conditional approval from the European Medicines Agency by the end of the month and can begin rolling out vaccine in European countries early next year.
One way he hopes to boost supply would be by bringing on earlier than projected the 750 million-dose-a-year plant BioNTech bought from Novartis AG in Marburg, Germany.
BioNTech had said it would begin making the vaccine there in the first half of 2021, and Sahin said they are working to get it up and running on an expedited timeline.
"The baseline plan is 1.3 billion doses," Sahin said. "And we are working on an extended plan. I can't tell you at the moment what is possible and how much we can expand the scale but we will try to do it significantly."
Supply of the vaccine will be limited at first in the United States, which has a population of roughly 330 million. The U.S. government has ordered 100 million doses of the two-dose vaccine and could negotiate for more.
Pfizer board member and former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in an interview with CNBC the company had offered to sell the United States more doses as recently as last month but had been turned down.
In data released this week, Pfizer and BioNTech said their vaccine began conferring some protection to recipients even before they received the second shot. It seemed to begin to show some efficacy around 12 days after the first shot.
Sahin said he was surprised by the data: "We know that the immune response is heavily boosted after the second dose."
He said the companies have not decided yet whether to evaluate a single-dose version of the vaccine.
"This will be a discussion that we will certainly have with our partners Pfizer," he said.
Reuters
Sat Dec 12 2020
Ugur Sahin said the biggest challenge facing it and partner Pfizer Inc now that their COVID-19 vaccine is authorized for use in the United States will be to scale up manufacturing to meet huge demand. - REUTERS
Hukuman penjara bapa lakukan serangan seksual ke atas 3 anak perempuan dikurangkan
Dalam penghakimannya, Che Mohd Ruzima berkata perayu gagal membuktikan bahawa Mahkamah Sesyen terkhilaf dalam memutuskan kes itu.
Malaysia-Brunei adakan rundingan mudahkan urusan Imigresen
Malaysia dan Brunei akan mengadakan rundingan bagi memudahkan proses keluar masuk rakyat kedua-dua negara.
Pan-gon mahu kekal hubungan baik dengan Malaysia
Bekas ketua jurulatih Harimau Malaya Kim Pan-gon mahu mengekalkan hubungan baik dengan skuad itu biarpun tidak lagi bersama.
Kos pampasan tanah fasa 1B proses Projek LPB Sabah RM1.2 bilion - Alexander
Anggaran kos pengambilan balik tanah bagi keseluruhan Fasa 1B proses pengambilan tanah dan penilaian pampasan tanah bagi Projek Lebuh Raya Pan Borneo Sabah (LPB Sabah) berjumlah RM1.2 bilion.
Sentiasa berhati-hati, ribut petir diramal berlaku di Sabah
Orang ramai khususnya yang tinggal di kawasan berisiko di Sabah disaran agar bersiap siaga terutama dari segi perubahan cuaca yang tidak menentu yang seterusnya akan mengakibatkan bencana banjir dan pokok tumbang.
Nasib acara sepak takraw wanita diketahui Khamis ini
Nasib acara sepak takraw wanita berpasukan dalam Sukan Malaysia (SUKMA) edisi ke-21 di Sarawak akan ditentukan dalam Mesyuarat Jawatankuasa SUKMA Peringkat Kebangsaan pada Khamis ini.
JPBM Sabah serah jentera khas buat pasukan sukarela
Jabatan Bomba dan Penyelamat Malaysia (JBPM) negeri Sabah sedang dalam perancangan untuk menyerahkan jentera khas, iaitu Volunter Fire Rescue Tender (VFRT) untuk Pasukan Bomba Sukarela (PBS) di Sabah.
Sarawak akan pertahan pingat sukan Muay Thai edisi lalu
Skuad Sarawak akan berusaha mempertahankan masing-masing dua emas, perak dan gangsa dalam kejohanan SUKMA yang dimenangi dalam edisi lalu.
Usaha pujuk Pan-gon tidak berhasil - Yusoff Mahadi
FAM pernah berusaha memujuk Kim Pan-gon untuk terus mengemudi skuad Harimau Malaya hingga kontraknya tamat secara rasmi pada akhir tahun depan.
Kaspersky tinggalkan pasaran AS bermula 20 Julai ini
Kaspersky mengesahkan kurang 50 pekerja akan terkesan, dan mereka akan diberikan pampasan susulan penutupan syarikat tersebut.
BioNTech rancang buka ibu pejabat serantau dan kemudahan pembuatan mRNA di Singapura
BioNTech SE mengumumkan rancangan memperluas kedudukan globalnya ke Asia dengan penubuhan Ibu Pejabat Serantau untuk Asia Tenggara di Singapura.
COVID-19: Pfizer dan BioNTech bakal bekal 12.8 juta dos vaksin kepada Malaysia
Pembekalan itu adalah tertakluk kepada keputusan klinikal dan kelulusan badan kawal selia.