Good news: a new vaccine from Biontech can be stored in the refrigerator

Biontech and Pfizer have raised the goal of producing this year’s Covid-19 vaccine to 2.5 billion doses, with the CEO of the biotech company expecting a new version of the vaccine that can be stored in refrigerators will be ready within a few months.

The new target represents an increase of about a quarter from the company’s previous estimate of two billion doses, which is enough for about a billion people, according to “Bloomberg,” and seen by “Al- Arabiya.net “.

It comes as the global thirst for more doses poses a challenge for vaccine manufacturers, who have had to shift from a rapid pace of development to securing production capacity. Pfizer and Biontech have revised their targets several times as they ramp up production, avoiding controversies faced by other pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca.

In turn, Biontech CEO Ugur Shaheen said in an interview, “We are seeing increased demand.” At the moment we have prepared to produce 2.5 billion doses, but in principle there is room for a further increase.

On the other hand, the company said it is making progress in developing two new versions of the vaccine, one of which is ready-to-use that can be stored at refrigerator temperature, and a freeze-dried version that can be stored by governments. in the country. the future.

The company explained that the latest version of the vaccine requires studies to ensure its effectiveness, which will begin in the United States in April and must contain data by the third quarter.

On the other hand, Shaheen and his wife Ozlem Torresi, who is the co-founder, said they would use the benefits of the vaccine to advance their research in other areas as well.

Biontec made a profit of 366.9 million euros in the fourth quarter, compared to a loss of 58.2 million euros in the first quarter of the previous year. At the end of the year, the company had 1.2 billion euros in cash. He plans to spend 850 million euros on research and development this year.

The company is also planning more than 10 patient trials in the field of oncology, including experimental treatments using mRNA technology for cancers of the skin, head, neck, breast, breast cancer. kidneys and liver. They are also working on cell therapies and other ways to recruit the immune system to fight cancer.

Biontech said it expects revenue of $ 11.5 billion from already signed supply contracts, or 1.4 billion doses.