Vaccine research progresses, shareholders cash in

On November 9, at 6:45 a.m., Pfizer and BioNTech made an announcement:  » COVID-19 vaccine candidate has successfully completed the first interim analysis of the Phase 3 study « ⁽¹⁾.

They detail, to entice the stock marketers:

• « In the first interim efficacy analysis, the candidate vaccine was more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV‑2 infection;
• The analysis evaluated 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in trial participants;
• The study enrolled 43,538 participants, 42% of whom were of diverse backgrounds, and no serious safety issues were observed; additional safety and efficacy data continue to be collected;
• The Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected shortly after the required safety milestone is achieved, which is currently expected to occur in the third week of November ;
• The clinical trial will continue until final analysis of 164 confirmed cases to collect additional data and characterize the performance of the candidate vaccine against other study endpoints. »

On November 9, Pfizer’s share price rose by 5% upon the announcement of the positive Phase 3 interim analysis. Pharmaceutical companies, doped with billions of dollars by taxpayers⁽²⁾, pay their shareholders with public money.

The more we « advance » in the vaccine, the more it pays, at some⁽³⁾. Nothing new. But this cannot prevent us from questioning this « unique solution » to vaccination⁽⁴⁾ that the media and politicians sell us, as long as it is bogged down in a logic of profit. 

Would it have been the same if all that money had not been at stake?⁽⁵⁾