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Dow Futures Soar 1,700+ Points As Pfizer Says Trial Vaccine 90% Effective

“Today is a great day for science and humanity."

   DailyWire.com
Cropped hand wearing a nitrile glove holding a Covid-19 vaccine vial and a syringe
Javier Zayas Photography/Getty Images

Stock futures surged on Monday morning before the markets opened after drug maker Pfizer announced a new COVID-19 vaccine is showing great promise in late-stage testing.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared more than 1,700 points, or 6.1%. The S&P 500 also rose by 3.7% in early trading, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 1%.

Pfizer Inc. said Monday that the latest results of its human trials on the vaccine show it is more than 90% effective.

“Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccine’s ability to prevent COVID-19,” said Pfizer CEO and Chairman Dr. Albert Bourla, in a statement.

“We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen. With today’s news, we are a significant step closer to providing people around the world with a much-needed breakthrough to help bring an end to this global health crisis.”

Pfizer said it will soon ask federal health regulators for permission to begin distributing and vaccine by the end of the month. Under guidelines set up by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), drug companies must monitor at least 50% of a study’s subjects for side effects for two months before making a safety assessment of the vaccine, and Pfizer says it will have that data by next week.

”After discussion with the FDA, the companies recently elected to drop the 32-case interim analysis and conduct the first interim analysis at a minimum of 62 cases,” the company’s statement said.

“Upon the conclusion of those discussions, the evaluable case count reached 94 and the DMC [Data Monitoring Committee] performed its first analysis on all cases. The case split between vaccinated individuals and those who received the placebo indicates a vaccine efficacy rate above 90%, at 7 days after the second dose. This means that protection is achieved 28 days after the initiation of the vaccination, which consists of a 2-dose schedule. As the study continues, the final vaccine efficacy percentage may vary. The DMC has not reported any serious safety concerns and recommends that the study continue to collect additional safety and efficacy data as planned. The data will be discussed with regulatory authorities worldwide,” Bourla said.

“The first interim analysis of our global Phase 3 study provides evidence that a vaccine may effectively prevent COVID-19. This is a victory for innovation, science and a global collaborative effort,” said Prof. Ugur Sahin, BioNTech co-founder and CEO. “When we embarked on this journey 10 months ago this is what we aspired to achieve. Especially today, while we are all in the midst of a second wave and many of us in lockdown, we appreciate even more how important this milestone is on our path towards ending this pandemic and for all of us to regain a sense of normality. We will continue to collect further data as the trial continues to enroll for a final analysis planned when a total of 164 confirmed COVID-19 cases have accrued. I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to make this important achievement possible.”

President Donald Trump praised the news.

“STOCK MARKET UP BIG, VACCINE COMING SOON. REPORT 90% EFFECTIVE. SUCH GREAT NEWS!” he wrote on Twitter.

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