Senator Tony Hwang (R-28) as co-chair of CT Bioscience Caucus issued the following statement on Pfizer’s announcement today that they are making incredible progress developing a vaccine for Covid-19. Pfizer and BioNTech announced their vaccine candidate against Covid-19 achieved success in first interim analysis from an advanced phase 3 study.

Their vaccine was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 in participants without evidence of prior SARS-CoV2 infection in the first interim efficacy analysis. As we endure a second surge of the Covid-19 virus, Connecticut’s bioscience industry is hard at work so our state, country and world can someday move beyond the risk and fear of contracting this terribly infectious virus. Today’s news is a beacon of hope that the end may be in sight. I am cautiously optimistic to hear about the strides that Connecticut’s own Pfizer, in collaboration with BioNTech, are making towards a safe and effective vaccine to Covid-19 and I eagerly await reports from the medical community and fellow researchers to support Pfizer’s phase 3 study analysis. Submission for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is planned for soon after the required safety milestone is achieved, which is currently expected to occur in the third week of November.

Our state has faced nearly a year’s worth of challenges with the arrival and spread of coronavirus. Our bioscience sector has kept Connecticut continually on the forefront of diagnosing, managing and treating symptoms of the virus and more importantly, the development and testing of a safe and effective vaccine. I want to credit the remarkable efforts of Pfizer, BioNTech and over 70 other CT companies who continue to find solutions in these unprecedented times. These companies are leading the nation on identifying a long term solution to this pandemic.

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