Pfizer and BioNTech Start COVID-19 Vaccine Trial in U.S.

Pfizer and BioNTech have started a U.S. trial of COVID-19 vaccine candidates at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

The phase 1/2 study will assess four mRNA vaccine candidates in a single, continuous trial. The first stage will enroll up to 360 healthy subjects between 18-55 and 65-85 years of age.

The first participants were dosed at the Grossman School and the University of Maryland. Two more sites are to begin enrollment soon.

The drugmakers are also conducting a trial in Germany — the first COVID-19 vaccine trial in that country (DID, April 30).

On the manufacturing front, Pfizer has selected four centers for vaccine production in Massachusetts, Michigan and Missouri, as well as in Purus, Belgium, and it plans to add more.

BioNTech is also ramping up its production capabilities at its sites in Mainz and Idar-Oberstein, Germany.

Nanette Cocero, global president of Pfizer Vaccines, said that the company aims to produce 10 million to 20 million doses of a vaccine for emergency use settings by the end of the year (DID, May 4). — Jordan Williams