Status: 13.09.2021 8:15 a.m.
In the elderly who were immunized early, protection against vaccinations gradually waned. Therefore, several states have started booster vaccinations. BioNTech, Moderna & Co. beckon new sources of income.
All good pikes come in threes: While more than a third of the German population is still unvaccinated, the first citizens are already receiving their third injection against Corona. Booster vaccinations for people in nursing homes and for people over 80 who were vaccinated at the beginning of this year have started in Berlin, Hesse, Saxony and Thuringia since September. Doctors can give the third pik six months after the second vaccination.
Israel: One fifth of the population has already been vaccinated three times
Third party vaccinations are also carried out in other countries. Israel started its new vaccination campaign back in July – for the particularly vulnerable group of people over 60 years of age. In the meantime, the 40-year-olds are on their way. A fifth of the population has now been vaccinated three times. This makes Israel the vaccination world champion.
A new round of vaccinations is also starting in the USA. A good 100 million refreshments are to be administered from September 20. Initially, only the vaccine from BioNTech / Pfizer will be used. It recently received full U.S. health authority approval.
WHO criticizes third-party vaccination
The so-called “booster” vaccinations are, however, controversial – both medically and politically. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently called for no third-dose vaccines to be used until at least the end of September. “We cannot accept that countries that have already used the majority of the vaccine available worldwide are now getting more,” complained WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. First of all, people in poorer countries should receive a primary or secondary vaccination. Otherwise new, more dangerous variants of the corona virus threatened. So far, only 15 percent of people worldwide have been immunized.
Some medical professionals are also skeptical. The virologist Christian Drosten currently considers booster vaccinations to be superfluous on a broad front. “We should focus on getting our vaccination rates high,” urges Leif Erik Sander, infection immunologist at the Charité in Berlin. He does not yet see the booster vaccines as a panacea.
BioNTech boss thinks booster vaccination is necessary in the fight against Delta
The vaccine manufacturers, however, consider a “booster” vaccination to be necessary. BioNTech and Pfizer emphasize that a third dose offers the highest level of protection against all currently tested variants, especially the highly contagious Delta variant. BioNTech boss Ugur Sahin believes that the pandemic cannot be brought under control without nationwide refreshments.
In fact, studies show that the effects of the first corona vaccines are wearing off. After just one month, the BioNTech / Pfizer dose only protects 88 percent from infection, researchers found in the British “Zoe Covid” study. After five to six months, the protection was only 74 percent. The Robert Koch Institute identified 13,360 vaccination breakthroughs by mid-August. The Moderna drug proved to be twice as safe as the BioNTech Pfizer vaccine.
Booster vaccinations submitted for approval
BionTechPfizer has therefore submitted data from a phase III study for the approval of a “booster” vaccine to the US health authority FDA. The two companies have developed a variant of their vaccine specifically for the Delta variant. Results are expected in late autumn. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are also planning refreshments and are hoping for the FDA’s green light. Moderna is currently testing three different “booster” products.
The first interim results are promising: after the booster vaccination with the BioNTech agent Comirnaty, the antibody titers in 18 to 55 year olds have increased more than fivefold on average. In the case of 65 to 85 year olds, the amount could even be increased by almost twelve times. The US biotech company announced that the antibody titers were also higher in the third Moderna syringe than after two vaccinations.
New boost in sales
The booster vaccination business should give manufacturers a new boost in sales. In the second quarter, BioNTech has already increased its revenues by 13,000 percent to 5.3 billion euros compared to the same period of the previous year. Moderna also increased its sales a thousandfold to $ 4.4 billion.
For the current year, the US biotech company is now forecasting $ 20 billion in revenue. The US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is even counting on $ 33.5 billion in revenues. In May, the forecast was still $ 26 billion. The German Pfizer partner BioNTech is aiming for 15.9 billion euros in sales.
Permanent source of income?
BioNTech plans to deliver three billion cans by the end of the year. In 2022, production is expected to rise to four billion – thanks in part to the “booster” vaccinations.
Pfizer boss Albert Bourla predicts that in the future the vaccination against corona will have to be refreshed again and again after several months – like with the flu. He therefore expects permanent recurring revenues.
Competition is increasing
However, Pfizer and Moderna will probably not dominate the corona vaccine market as much in the future as they did in 2021. Because competition is increasing. With CureVac, Novavax and Sanofi, several companies are about to approve their vaccines, which could protect more effectively against mutants like Delta. After the flop with its first vaccine, CureVac is working with the British Glaxo on a “booster”.
In view of the increasing competition, the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is upgrading its personnel. He is currently looking for new managers via job advertisements who will successfully roll out the third vaccination campaign. Marketing is to be accelerated. A large advertising campaign by the Ogilvy agency is planned.
Experts believe that the really big boom for BioNTech / Pfizer will soon be over. Analysts expect BioNTech revenues to decline from 2022. Revenues are expected to decline to $ 10.9 billion next year and $ 7.9 billion in 2023. In 2024 it would be just $ 4.7 billion.