BioNTech and Pfizer Provide Vaccine Booster Update

As part of Pfizer’s and BioNTech’s continued efforts to stay ahead of the coronavirus causing COVID-19 and circulating mutations, the companies provided an update on July 8, 2021, focused on their comprehensive Comirnaty vaccine booster strategy.

Pfizer and BioNTech stated they have seen encouraging data in the ongoing booster trial of a third dose of the current Comirnaty - BNT162b2 vaccine. Initial data from the study demonstrate that a booster dose given 6 months after the second dose has a consistent tolerability profile while eliciting high neutralization titers against the wild type and the Beta variant, which are 5 to 10 times higher than after two primary doses. 

The companies expect to publish more definitive data soon as well as in a peer-reviewed journal. In addition, they plan to submit the data to the FDA, EMA, and other regulatory authorities in the coming weeks.

In addition, data from a recent Nature paper demonstrate those immune sera obtained shortly after dose 2 of the primary two-dose series of Comirnaty - BNT162b2 have strong neutralization titers against the Delta variant (B.1.617.2 lineage) in laboratory tests.

The companies anticipate that a third dose will boost those antibody titers even higher, similar to how the third dose performs for the Beta variant (B.1.351).

Pfizer and BioNTech are conducting preclinical and clinical tests to confirm this hypothesis.

While Pfizer and BioNTech believe the third dose of Comirnaty - BNT162b2 has the potential to preserve the highest levels of protective efficacy against all currently tested variants, including Delta, the companies are remaining vigilant and are developing an updated version of the Comirnaty Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine that targets the full spike protein of the Delta variant.