Pfizer's vaccine gets FDA-authorized: we're talking timing, logistics, and $$$
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It's hereee... On Friday evening, the FDA authorized Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in the US. First, let's take a second to appreciate how fast this materialized: Vaccines usually take around 10 years to develop — this took less than a year (record-shattering). Also...
- It's the first mRNA vaccine ever approved for human use. Unlike OG vaccines (which use a weakened virus), mRNA ones teach cells to destroy the virus.
- Next up for authorization: Moderna's vax, which is also mRNA-based (hence: ModeRNA). Both Moderna's and Pfizer's vaccines were 95% effective in trials (impressive).
In motion... Trucks carrying vaccine doses at subzero temperatures started rolling out of Pfizer's Michigan plant on Sunday. The CDC director also signed off on the vax, allowing shots to begin today.
- Who: People 16 and older can get the vax. America's 21M health-care workers and 3M nursing-home residents will likely be the first to receive it.
- How: Two shots taken three weeks apart. Pfizer plans to distribute ~25M doses in the US by the end of 2020, enough for 12.5M people.
- When: Authorities don’t expect there'll be enough supply to vaccinate the broader population until spring or summer 2021.
The profits are coming... Pfizer's vaccine will be free for Americans, but that doesn't mean Pfizer's not making $$$ from Uncle Sam — it's projected to haul in $19B in Covid-19 vaccine sales in 2021. But Pfizer's a huge company, which is perhaps partly why its stock is up only 11% this year. Meanwhile, Moderna is a young biotech with 0 products on the market. It generated just $60M in sales last year, but is expected to make $13.2B in Covid vaccine sales next year. Its stock is up 716% this year.