(Reuters) – Drugmaker Pfizer Inc said on Tuesday it was not yet ready to release data from the late-stage trial of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate it is developing with Germany’s BioNTech SE.
Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla has said the company could release data on whether or not the vaccine works as early as this month, but the company said in a presentation that the independent data monitoring board which will determine whether or not the trial has been successful has not conducted any interim efficacy analyses yet.
The company also reported a 4.3% drop in third-quarter sales, hurt by increased competition for its off-patent pain drug Lyrica and lower demand for some of its treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pfizer said quarterly Lyrica sales fell 33% to $352 million.
Total sales fell to $12.13 billion from $12.68 billion a year ago.
As the pandemic crimps demand for certain Pfizer therapies and damages global economies, investors are keenly focused on seeing the late-stage study data of the vaccine candidate being developed with BioNTech.
(Reporting by Michael Erman in Maplewood, N.J. and Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr and Mark Potter)
