Pfizer said on Tuesday that it is “laying the groundwork” for creating a vaccine booster that can respond to coronavirus variants.
“We shouldn’t be afraid, but I think we need to be prepared,” said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, during the Bloomberg The Year Ahead event on Tuesday. “As soon as we discover something that is not so effective, we will produce a very, very quickly boost that will be a small variation from the current one.”
Bourla said the company had discussed variants in the past and created a process to help it adapt quickly.
“We were working on a process that will allow us to do development very quickly,” said Bourla. “Now we have started to implement this process.”
In a statement to CNN on Tuesday, Pfizer emphasized that the process is to respond, “if a variant of SARS-CoV-2 shows evidence of escaping immunity by our vaccine.”
“However, the studies needed to evaluate a vaccine that encodes an updated viral antigen have yet to be determined, according to regulators. We need to generate data that gives confidence that any updated vaccine is safe and effective. The updated vaccine to be administered as a booster would be subject to regulatory approval or authorization, ”said the statement.
Last week, Ugur Sahin, who helped invent the BioNTech vaccine produced and distributed by Pfizer, tested his vaccine against variant B.1.1.7 seen for the first time in the UK. The team found “no biologically significant differences in neutralization activity,” they reported in a pre-printed report. But they said it would be “prudent” to start adjusting the vaccine, just in case.
The vaccine maker Moderna announced on Monday that two doses of its vaccine should protect against emerging strains of coronavirus detected so far, but as a precaution, it planned to test booster doses.