The executives said they should be able to produce a safe and effective vaccine by early 2021.
Drug company executives insisted Tuesday they aren’t cutting corners in fast-tracking development of potential vaccines to prevent infection of the coronavirus.
Executives from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Moderna and Pfizer told Congress the Food and Drug Administration hasn’t eased its requirements for proving their vaccines are safe and effective. They also said they should be able to produce a safe and effective vaccine by the end of the year or early 2021.
« I think the guidelines the FDA have issued are absolutely to the normal standards and I think that if we are able to meet them, we will have a safe and efficacious vaccine, » Dr. Mene Pangalos, AstraZeneca executive vice president for biopharmaceuticals research and development, said during a hearing with the House Energy and Commerce Committee on efforts to create a vaccine. « There’s nothing that gives me pause that they’re lowering their standards in any way. »
Public health officials say there is no returning to « normal » until there is a vaccine.
There are no FDA-approved drugs or vaccines for the coronavirus, which has infected more than 14.7 million people worldwide and killed at least 610,560 as of Tuesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. More than 100 potential vaccines are being developed worldwide, according to the World Health Organization, with at least 23 already in human trials.
