Hey, you. Looks like you’re making some cool, spiky shots in there. How’s it going?
AstraZeneca: Better
than it was. We had suspended our late-stage vaccine trial after a
participant developed neurological symptoms. But this week we restarted it when independent monitoring committees and international regulators agreed that it was safe to resume.
Johnson & Johnson: Same
here; we’re back up and running after a reported stroke incident in a
volunteer. Outside experts and the FDA sniffed around and said we’re
good to go.
- FYI, our vaccine is the only one being tested that involves a single dose.
Pfizer: Optimistic. The current trial with BioNTech could reveal
our vaccine's effectiveness by late November, which would be the first
from any vaccine candidate. We could potentially get emergency
authorization by the end of the year.
- Still, we just barely beat
Q3 earnings estimates yesterday. Our costs were down, but sales fell 4%
thanks to people’s continued reluctance to go to the doctor—i.e. fewer
prescriptions for our drugs. It’s not just us; they’re having the same problem over at Eli Lilly.
Herd immunity: Stock is down. Doctors don’t know yet if antibodies = immunity, but it may not matter. A study published Monday showed
the number of people with antibodies dropped significantly (27%) in a
three-month period, indicating that any immunity could be temporary.
- The study hasn’t been peer reviewed yet.
Big picture: The
U.S.’ vaccine game is high-stakes. Any slip-ups in the program—such as
only four out of six candidates proving effective, or not enough people
getting vaccinated—could mean we’ll be dealing with the virus well into 2023. But if everything goes smoothly, we could turn the tide by July of next year.
+ FYI: On
Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci told Yahoo Finance that the “primary
endpoint” of a vaccine is “to prevent clinically recognizable disease,”
aka stamping out symptoms, rather than eliminating the virus entirely.
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