Name: How Pfizer is testing its COVID-19 vaccine
Uploaded: 2020-10-27
Duration: 3 min 31 s
Description: CEO Albert Bourla explains .

 CLIFTON LEAF: It's undoubtedly something that Pfizer Chairman and CEO, Albert Bourla, has in mind while Pfizer works towards developing a COVID-19 vaccine. He joins us right now. Thank you for being here. Albert, I want to-- ALBERT BOURLA: Thank you. CLIFTON LEAF: Sorry about that. I want to start with what everyone has been thinking about, which is the vaccine. And today, you announced your earnings. And there were a lot of people waiting with bated breath to see if there was per chance some information about the interim analysis that you do. You look at the data in your phase three trial. You have a couple of looks pre-scheduled in. And you're looking for events. Who's getting sick with COVID and who isn't? And the share of those in the intervention arm versus the vaccine arm. Talk a little about the process, just so everyone understands how this works. ALBERT BOURLA: Thank you very much. And as I said, thank you very much for having me here. There was a lot of questions today. And there are a lot of questions constantly. And it is very clear to me that the interest about the vaccine is very, very high right now, given whatever is at stake. The process of works is that we are vaccinating people either with a placebo or with a vaccine. And those people, they don't know if they received the placebo or the vaccine. The physicians or the nurses that are injected, they don't know if they received the vaccine or the placebo. The computer that stores this information, it is protected with codes. But very few people have it and they're not allowed to get in unless there are significant events that are happening. And all of that is monitored by a committee that's called Data Monitor Committee. But it is a committee for external, independent from Pfizer [INAUDIBLE] these are professionals of universities, people that they know very well what it means to develop a vaccine. Those people will be the first ones, that they will have a look in unblinded data. And this happens when it's pre-specified number of cases of COVID have occurred. What does this mean? We vaccinated the 40,000 people. We are going to go all the way to 44,000. Then we let them live their lives. And because there is a lot of disease out there, some of them will get the disease. So we are waiting to see how many of these 44,000 people will get the disease. And once we know that we have collected a specific number of events, we are going to unblind this data-- not us, only the independent data committee. And they will see those that have disease, they belong to the group that took the placebo or they belong the group that took the vaccine. Likely, will be done in both groups, but what we want to see, for example, it is very high efficacy. So very, very few people vaccinated got infected and all the rest are from the placebo group. So this is where we are. Once this is done, the Data Monitoring Committee, if we demonstrate efficacy, then they will inform us. And they will tell us that you have demonstrated efficacy in your primary endpoint. And this is what we will make public to the world. But that will take us from the day that we know until we make it public, typically a week. 