Pfizer concludes phase 3 study of COVID-19 vaccine candidate, says it's 95% effective
New York: Global drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech said on Wednesday their COVID-19 vaccine candidate is 95 percent effective, including in people over 65 years of age, a major announcement coming just two days after Moderna said its virus vaccine has an efficacy rate of 94.5 percent.
Pfizer and BioNTech said they have concluded phase 3 study of their mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate BNT162b2, meeting all primary efficacy endpoints. Based on current projections, the companies expect to produce globally up to 50 million vaccine doses in 2020 and up to 1.3 billion doses by the end of 2021.
This week, leading biotechnology company Moderna said its COVID-19 vaccine had shown to be 94.5 percent effective. Earlier this month, Pfizer and Biontech had said their COVID-19 vaccine candidate was found to be more than 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants.
Analysis of the data indicates a vaccine efficacy rate of 95 percent in participants without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection (first primary objective) and also in participants with and without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection (second primary objective), in each case measured from seven days after the second dose.
The company said the first primary objective analysis is based on 170 cases of COVID-19, of which 162 cases of coronavirus were observed in the placebo group while 8 cases in the BNT162b2 group.
Vaccine efficacy was consistent across age, gender, race, and ethnicity demographics. The observed efficacy in adults over 65 years of age was over 94 percent.
There were 10 severe cases of COVID-19 observed in the trial, with nine of the cases occurring in the placebo group and one in the BNT162b2 vaccinated group.
"The study results mark an important step in this historic eight-month journey to bring forward a vaccine capable of helping to end this devastating pandemic. We continue to move at the speed of science to compile all the data collected thus far and share with regulators around the world," said Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer Chairman and CEO.
"With hundreds of thousands of people around the globe infected every day, we urgently need to get a safe and effective vaccine to the world," Bourla said.
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Case registered against associate film director for sexual assault of model in Kochi
Kochi (PTI): Police on Saturday said they had registered a case against an associate director in the film industry for "sexually assaulting" a model here.
The case was registered against Jojo Kurishinkal of Chengannur in Alappuzha district at the Maradu police station on May 6.
Kurishinkal has worked in several films as an assistant and associate director.
According to the FIR, the complainant, a model based in Kochi, met Kurishinkal through a dating app in July 2023.
The FIR stated that the accused told the complainant he was a film director and had separated from his wife before proposing marriage to her.
He later allegedly assured the complainant and her mother that he would go ahead with the marriage once the legal procedures related to his divorce were completed, the FIR said.
According to the FIR, the accused later invited the complainant to his apartment in Vyttila on April 18, 2024, where he "sexually assaulted" her.
The FIR further alleged that he continued to sexually harass the woman thereafter. It also stated that the accused had "physically assaulted" the complainant on multiple occasions before later refusing to marry her.
Based on the complaint, police registered a case under Section 376(2)(n) of the Indian Penal Code for repeatedly raping the same woman.
Police said the woman’s confidential statement would be recorded, following which the accused would be summoned for questioning.
