Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE have submitted a formal Application for Conditional Marketing Authorization (CMA) to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for their mRNA vaccine candidate, BNT162b2, against Covid-19.
 
This submission completes the rolling review process initiated on October 6, 2020, with nonclinical data and partial Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) data, followed by emerging clinical data submitted by Pfizer and BioNTech. If EMA concludes that the benefits of the vaccine candidate outweigh its risks in protecting against Covid‑19, it will recommend granting a CMA that could potentially enable use of BNT162b2 in Europe before the end of 2020.
 
Clinical Data
 
The submitted clinical data demonstrated a vaccine efficacy rate of 95% (p<0.0001) in the companies’ Phase 3 clinical study in participants without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection (first primary objective) and also in participants with and without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection (second primary objective), in each case measured from 7 days after the second dose. Efficacy was consistent across age, gender, race and ethnicity demographics, with an observed efficacy in adults age 65 and over of more than 94%. The first primary objective analysis was based on 170 confirmed cases of Covid-19. In the trial, BNT162b2 also showed an overall favorable tolerability with no safety concerns reported by the Data Monitoring Committee to date. Approximately 42% of global participants and 30% of U.S. participants in the Phase 3 study have racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, and 41% of global and 45% of U.S. participants are 56-85 years of age. 
 
“Today’s announcement marks another key milestone in our efforts to fulfill our promise to do everything we can to address this dire crisis given the critical public health need,” said Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer chairman and CEO. “We have known since the beginning of this journey that patients are waiting, and we stand ready to ship Covid-19 vaccine doses as soon as potential authorizations will allow us.” 
 
Ugur Sahin, M.D., CEO and co-founder of BioNTech added, “We will continue to work with regulatory agencies around the world to enable the rapid distribution, should the vaccine receive the approval, contributing to the joint efforts to let the world heal and regain its normal pace of life.”
 
The vaccine candidate will be assessed according to EMA’s normal stringent standards for quality, safety and efficacy. The BNT162b2 vaccine candidate is currently not approved for distribution anywhere in the world.  
 
Other Submissions
 
In addition to submission to EMA, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the companies have initiated rolling submissions across the globe including in Australia, Canada and Japan, and plan to submit applications to other regulatory agencies around the world.