Pfizer and immunotherapy company BioNTech are scaling up production of their BNT162 vaccine, currently in clinical trials to slow the spread of COVID-19.
The trials are designed to establish the optimal dosage of four mRNA candidates, each representative of a unique combination of mRNA format and target antigen, so that the safest candidate can be used in mass production.
Designed to prevent COVID-19, Pfizer and BioNTech’s BNT162 vaccine program began dosing patients in Germany in late April. Phase ½ is underway in the U.S., with patients being dosed at New York City-based NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Baltimore-based University of Maryland School of Medicine. Soon, the University of Rochester Medical Center/Rochester Regional Health and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center will also become trial sites.
Pfizer and BioNTech have been increasing production for global supply, planning to produce millions of vaccine doses this year and hundreds of millions in 2021.