After a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration must begin disclosing data surrounding the approval of COVID-19 vaccines within a span of eight months, Pfizer hopes to step in to ensure that no trade secrets are disclosed when the regulatory agency begins to share that information.
Moderna Inc. started a mid-stage study, testing a booster dose of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine specifically designed to target the Omicron coronavirus variant, a day after rival Pfizer Inc. launched a similar trial.
BioNTech said the company and partner Pfizer may not be able to stick with their plan to launch an Omicron-targeting vaccine by the end of March 2022, depending on how much clinical trial data regulators will require.
Pfizer Inc. Chief Executive Albert Bourla said on January 22 that an annual COVID-19 vaccine would be preferable to more frequent booster shots in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
Pfizer Inc. said on January 21 the U.S. health regulator declined to approve somatrogon as a treatment for growth hormone deficiency in children that the company developed with partner Opko Health Inc.
The World Health Organization on January 21 recommended extending the use of a reduced dosage of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to children aged 5 to 11 years old.
A small preliminary laboratory study has shown that levels of Omicron-neutralizing antibodies of people vaccinated with Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine did not decline as much as those who had Pfizer shots.
Pfizer released data from several studies showing that nirmatrelvir, the active main protease inhibitor of the company’s antiviral combination therapy Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir), is effective against the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, a study conducted by 23andMe and published in Nature Genetics identified a genetic risk factor tied to the loss of smell from COVID-19.
Speaking with French newspaper Le Figaro, Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said he believes the world will “return to normal life” sometime during the spring of 2022.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved drugs from AbbVie Inc. and Pfizer Inc. for treating the skin disease eczema, the companies said on Jan. 14.
