4/30/2021 Covid vaccine: BioNTech CEO confident shot works against India strain

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HEALT H AND SCIEN CE

BioNTech CEO confident Covid vaccine works

against ‘double mutant’ strain identified in India
P U B L I S H E D T H U, A P R 2 9 2 0 2 1 • 6 : 1 0 P M E DT U P DAT E D T H U, A P R 2 9 2 0 2 1 • 7 : 2 7 P M E DT

Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

@ B E R K E L E YJ R

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KEY POINTS
The strain, known as B.1.617, contains two key mutations that have been found
separately in other coronavirus variants.

The variant, also referred to as the “double mutant,” was first spotted in India.
The variant has since been identified in other countries, including the United
States.

BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin said past testing of the vaccine included double
mutants and he expects the shot to be effective against B.1.617.

However, Sahin said the company won’t know for sure until it has more data.

In this article

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4/30/2021 Covid vaccine: BioNTech CEO confident shot works against India strain

VIDEO 03:38

BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine pioneer says third Pfizer dose likely

BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin told CNBC on Thursday he is “confident” the company’s
Covid-19 vaccine with U.S. partner Pfizer is effective against a coronavirus variant
first identified in India.

The strain, known as B.1.617, contains two key mutations that have been found
separately in other coronavirus variants. The variant, also referred to as the “double
mutant,” was first spotted in India, where it’s thought by some to be behind a recent
surge in new Covid-19 cases there.

The variant has since been identified in other countries, including the United States.

Sahin said the German drugmaker has tested its two-dose vaccine, which is currently
not available in India, against similar “double mutants.” Based on those data, Sahin
said he feels assured the shot will still be protective.

“We are evaluating [the strain] ... and the data will be available in the coming
weeks,” he told CNBC.

“However, we had similar double mutants in our prior testing, and we are confident
based on the data we had in the past that we might see a similar fashion of
neutralization of this virus. But we will only know it if we have the data in our
hands,” he added.

In recent months, U.S. health officials have said they are concerned new, highly
contagious variants of the virus might one day become skilled at evading the
protection of currently authorized vaccines. They are urging Americans to get
vaccinated as quickly as possible before new and potentially more dangerous
variants emerge.

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4/30/2021 Covid vaccine: BioNTech CEO confident shot works against India strain

VIDEO 02:26

Covid variant from South Africa may evade the Pfizer vaccine: Study

Studies have shown the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is still protective against other
strains, including B.1.526, the variant first identified in New York, and B.1.1.7, the
variant found in the U.K.

An Israeli study found B.1.351, the variant discovered in South Africa, was able to
evade some of the protection of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, though the shot
remained highly effective.

Even though the shot remains effective, Sahin said people will likely need a third shot
of its two-dose Covid-19 vaccine as immunity against the virus wanes, agreeing with
previous comments made by Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and BioNTech chief medical
officer Dr. Ozlem Tureci.

In February, Pfizer and BioNTech said they were testing a third dose of their Covid-
19 vaccine to better understand the immune response against new variants of the
virus.

Sahin said Thursday that researchers are seeing a decline in antibody responses
against the virus after eight months.

“If we provide a boost we could really amplify the antibody response even above the
levels that we had at the beginning and that could give us real comfort for protection
for at least 12 months, maybe 18 months,” he said.

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4/30/2021 Covid vaccine: BioNTech CEO confident shot works against India strain

VIDEO 04:26

BioNTech CEO: Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine effective against strains in UK, South Africa

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4/30/2021 Covid vaccine: BioNTech CEO confident shot works against India strain

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