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Vaccines’ impact on pandemic could come as early as April, says boss of Shanghai Fosun’s German partner BioNTech

  • The world could start to see the effect of vaccinations on pandemic by the second quarter, says CEO of German drug maker BioNTech
  • The company, which is based in Mainz, Germany, has partnered with Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical to bring its candidate to China

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The logo of BioNTech on flags in front of the company headquarters in Mainz, Germany. Photo: dpa
The world could start to see the effect of vaccinations on the coronavirus pandemic as early as the second quarter if medicines are approved early next year, according to the head of one of the front-runners vying to get their vaccine candidates to market.
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But collective efforts from vaccine developers, scientists and the media will be needed to inform vaccine sceptics to support higher take-up rates, said Ugur Sahin, co-founder and CEO of BioNTech. The company, which is based in Mainz, Germany, has partnered with Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical to bring its candidate to China.

“If we have positive clinical data that are considered to be sufficient by regulators, our vaccine could be made available under emergency use authorisation, at least for certain regions,” he told the South China Morning Post.

“2021 will be a year when we will learn how fast vaccines will be made available, [which will] require collaboration and close alignment among governments, companies and logistics providers … we might see the first effects of such vaccinations as soon as in the second quarter.”

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