BioNTech chief believes their COVID-19 vaccine could lead to 'dramatic' reduction in cases

The scientist behind the first potential COVID-19 vaccine to have cleared the interim trials says he is "very confident" that the drug will help reduce the transmission of the disease, reports Guardian. Ugur Sahin, the chief executive of BioNTech, further said that it will result in the "dramatic" reduction of cases.

Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine candidate has shown more than 90 percent efficacy in preventing coronavirus and now the two companies are working to distribute the experimental drug.

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Vaccine to help in stopping the transmission

According to reports, Sahin said he is very confident that the transmission will be reduced by 50 percent if not 90 percent. He further added that the scientists would have a better knowledge of the impact of the vaccine by next year.

The company aims at delivering 300 million doses of the vaccine around the world by April. Sahin said that it would be too late to prevent the world from the second wave of the pandemic but at least this would ensure that the west enjoys a "normal winter" next year.

Read: COVID Vaccine Would Begin To Be Delivered At The 'end Of This Year, Beginning Of Next Year'

While the novel coronavirus infections recently passed the grim milestone of 50 million cases, American pharmaceutical company Pfizer said on November 9 that the interim analysis of its vaccine produced along with German partner BioNTech group has shown promising results, meaning it is on track to file an emergency use application with American regulators as early as later this month.

However, the November 9 announcement does not imply that the mRNA-based vaccine called BNT162b2, is imminent. The results are based on the interim analysis which considered at least 94 infections in a study that had enrolled at least 44,000 people in six nations including the United States with fewer than nine of them who caught the disease were also given the dose.

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is mRNA-based. It means that the individual is not being injected with the parts of the virus but instead, the recipient will be administered with the part of the genetic code of the coronavirus. This further tricks the body into producing some of the viral proteins on its own so that the immune system detects these proteins and generates a defensive response to them.

Read: Dr Fauci Highlights Pfizer COVID Vaccine's Success Rate; 'may Help Overcoming Reluctance'

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(Image Credits: AP)