No doubt you’ve heard of Murphy’s law. But what about Yhprum’s law? It’s just against Murphy’s law (the name “Murphy” is spelled back). Under Yhprum’s law, anything that can go right will go wrong. Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) he seems to be experiencing the effects of Yhprum law with the COVID-19 vaccine he developed and marketed BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX).
Pfizer and BioNTech have delivered nothing but good news for their COVID-19 Comirnaty (BNT162b2) vaccine so far. Now there are two new advanced developments that have made Pfizer’s hopes even better.
Image source: Getty Images.
More great news
Earlier this month, two different teams of Israeli researchers found that Comirnaty appears to reduce the spread of infection with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Last week, Israeli researchers reported more great news for the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccines.
The new study found that people receiving the first dose of Comirnaty had a 75% reduction in overall infections. Similarly, researchers from Canada reported last week that their analysis of Pfizer data showed a 92.6% efficacy after the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. An earlier study concluded a much lower efficacy of 52.4% after the first dose.
Pfizer and BioNTech announced a progressive development for themselves last week. Both companies submitted new data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) showing that Comirnaty can be stored for two weeks at temperatures between minus 13 degrees Fahrenheit and 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Previously, the vaccine required ultracold storage at temperatures between minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit and minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit.
Potential impact
What does all this mean for Pfizer? Let’s start with the less stringent storage requirement. Assuming the FDA changes its emergency use permit (EUA) label for Comirnaty, it should make it easier for facilities that do not have ultracold storage equipment to administer Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine.
This may not directly affect Pfizer. However, anything the company can do to reduce heavy storage requirements can improve the chances that governments will order more doses of Comirnaty in the future. Pfizer thwarted expectations for more good news in the future on this front. The company said it and BioNTech “expect it to extend shelf life and / or expiration date” as more data becomes available.
Reports of increased efficacy after the first dose of Comirnaty have not yet been confirmed. However, this could also suggest that Pfizer may receive more prescriptions for the vaccine going forward.
Why don’t investors celebrate?
Despite Pfizer ‘s continued good news for its COVID vaccine, the large pharma stock is down nearly 7% year to date. Why don’t investors celebrate?
One possible reason is that it is still early days. More data on the effectiveness of Comirnaty after a single dose are needed. The FDA has not yet agreed to change the label for the vaccine to reflect the updated storage requirements.
Perhaps the biggest factor, however, is that investors are not sure that any of these developments will move the needle of everything for Pfizer. It could be said that this is a fair assessment at this stage, although recent announcements should encourage Pfizer ‘s desire to get vaccinated.
There is a pretty good case to be made, however, that investors should be celebrating Pfizer’s overall vaccine success more than ever before. The company is about to rake in more than $ 15 billion this year from Comirnaty and will share the profits 50-50 with BioNTech. The Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will be a key growth driver for the company in 2021 – and possibly for years to come.