Ugur Sahin, BioNTech CEO (Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa via AP Images)
Whereas some public health officials and biopharma leaders — including Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel — are sounding the alarm over the new Omicron coronavirus variant, BioNTech chief Ugur Sahin is pressing a more cautious approach.
In interviews Tuesday with the Wall Street Journal and Reuters, Sahin cautioned that little is yet known of the variant’s ability to cause severe Covid-19, and T cell responses among the vaccinated would likely remain strong. Though the biotech is still conducting lab tests to determine whether antibody protection will be diminished, Sahin isn’t pressing the panic button.
‘Our message is: Don’t freak out, the plan remains the same: Speed up the administration of a third booster shot,’ Sahin told WSJ on Tuesday.
The comments stand in stark contrast to an interview Bancel gave to the Financial Times earlier this week, in which he predicted a significant drop in vaccine effectiveness against Omicron. Bancel hedged, noting he didn’t know how steep the drop would be, but stressed that ‘all the scientists I’ve talked to … are like, ‘This is not going to be good.”
Omicron has shaken global markets since South African scientists first detected the variant last week, and countries around the world are issuing new travel bans in the hopes of stemming the tide. The variant has been particularly notable for its high number of mutations, leading to fears it may be more contagious than the Alpha or Delta strains and infect vaccinated people more easily.
But Sahin told WSJ he thinks those who received their shots — especially those that got a booster — would still be protected against severe disease resulting in hospitalization or death. The CEO highlighted that the shot produced by BioNTech and Pfizer has largely lowered severe disease risk from other variants and said most Delta breakthrough infections are mild.
He said the same would likely hold true for Omicron, as T cells continue to offer protection even if the virus evades antibodies. The reduction in antibody protection against Omicron is yet to be determined, he told Reuters, but he is expecting some loss against mild and moderate disease.
Even so, Sahin is staying calm.
‘To my mind there’s no reason to be particularly worried. The only thing that worries me at the moment is the fact that there are people that have not been vaccinated at all,’ Sahin told Reuters.
While researchers await answers on ongoing lab tests, the virus and emerging variants aren’t going away any time soon. The pandemic has already created a boon for Pfizer and Moderna, with the former also developing an antiviral pill it says is 89% effective in reducing severe disease in infected individuals.
Pfizer also likely has a leg up on Merck, another company working on an oral treatment. In an adcomm yesterday, advisers narrowly voted to recommend authorizing the Merck pill despite questions about efficacy and concerns over using the therapy in pregnant women.
While oncology researchers have long pursued the potential of cellular immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer, it was unclear whether these therapies would ever reach patients due to the complexity of manufacturing and costs of development. Fortunately, the recent successful development and regulatory approval of chimeric antigen receptor-engineered T (CAR-T) cells have demonstrated the significant benefit of these therapies to patients.
Stéphane Bancel, Moderna CEO
Even as public health officials remain guarded about their comments on the likelihood Omicron will escape the reach of the currently approved Covid-19 vaccines, there’s growing scientific consensus that we’re facing a variant that threatens to overwhelm the vaccine barricades that have been erected.
Stéphane Bancel, the CEO of Moderna, one of the leading mRNA players whose quick vault into the markets with a highly effective vaccine created an instant multibillion-dollar market, added his voice to the rising chorus early Tuesday. According to Bancel, there will be a significant drop in efficacy when the average immune system is confronted by Omicron. The only question now is: How much?
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The nonprofit Institute for Clinical and Economic Review on Wednesday released a new report highlighting the ways in which payers are generally ensuring fair access to prescription drugs, even when based on a set of criteria set by the nonprofit.
While noting the lack of transparency hindered the report’s results, ICER said that the ‘great majority’ of payer policies in the formularies evaluated are structured in a way to support many key elements of how ICER defines ‘fair access.’
Reshma Kewalramani, Vertex CEO (Vertex via YouTube)
Vertex claimed its second early-stage win of the fall Wednesday, announcing positive results in a small study on a genetically defined form of kidney disease.
The 16-patient, Phase II trial focused on patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a rare disease where kidneys are unable to filter blood properly. Over 13 weeks on an experimental pill, the level of protein in the patients’ urine fell by an average of 47.6%.
Looking at past test samples, Dutch officials have detected the Omicron variant in cases dating back as far as Nov. 19, adding further evidence that the variant arrived in Europe well before the first cases were detected in South Africa.
The samples in question were taken on Nov. 19 and 23, according to the country’s health institute, RIVM.
‘It is not yet clear whether these people had also visited southern Africa,’ the RIVM said in a statement.
Paul Hudson, Sanofi CEO (Cyril Marcilhacy/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Paul Hudson has spotlighted vaccines, immunology and dermatology as some of the top R&D focuses at Sanofi. His latest deal brings all of them together.
The French pharma giant isn’t sharing any financial details about the buyout of Origimm, a low-profile, private Austrian biotech whose technology promises to identify antigens causing skin disease and build vaccines against them. Their lead candidate targets acne vulgaris.
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Philip Dormitzer, new GSK global head of vaccines R&D
GlaxoSmithKline has appointed Philip Dormitzer, formerly chief scientific officer of Pfizer’s viral vaccines unit, as its newest global head of vaccines R&D, looking to leverage one of the leading minds behind Pfizer and BioNTech’s RNA collaboration that led to Covid-19 jab Comirnaty, the British drug giant said Tuesday.
Dormitzer had been with Pfizer for a little more than six years, joining up after a seven-year stint with Novartis, where he reached the role of US head of research and head of global virology for the company’s vaccines and diagnostics unit.
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With little explanation for why Merck’s potential Covid-19 antiviral was less effective in reducing Covid hospitalizations and deaths in a full analysis of a Phase III trial versus an interim look, the FDA’s antimicrobial drugs advisory committee on Tuesday voted 13-10 in favor of the pill’s benefits outweighing the risks for adults within 5 days of developing Covid symptoms.
Molnupiravir will likely be authorized by FDA in the coming days for adults with mild or moderate Covid-19. While Pfizer’s antiviral may prove to be more effective, Merck’s pill will be another weapon in the armamentarium of Covid-19 treatments for countries around the world, adding to the mAb treatments already in use in the outpatient space from Regeneron, Eli Lilly and Vir/GlaxoSmithKline.
https://endpts.com/dont-freak-out-ugur-sahin-takes-a-different-tone-on-omicron-than-his-mrna-counterpart-reports/
