US, European Covid vaccine developers make pledge to uphold testing rigour | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Sunday
June 01, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
SUNDAY, JUNE 01, 2025
US, European Covid vaccine developers make pledge to uphold testing rigour

Coronavirus chronicle

Reuters
08 September, 2020, 04:35 pm
Last modified: 08 September, 2020, 04:40 pm

Related News

  • Elon Musk leaving Trump administration, capping turbulent tenure
  • Touhid expresses concern over widespread rumour campaigns during meeting with USCIRF chair
  • Trump dumps Netanyahu
  • Bangladeshis in US may suffer as 5% tax proposed on sending remittances by non-citizens
  • Israeli strikes kill 146 Palestinians in Gaza in 24 hours, local health authorities say

US, European Covid vaccine developers make pledge to uphold testing rigour

The companies, including Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, in a joint statement made a "historic pledge... to uphold the integrity of the scientific process as they work towards potential global regulatory filings and approvals of the first Covid-19 vaccines"

Reuters
08 September, 2020, 04:35 pm
Last modified: 08 September, 2020, 04:40 pm
File Photo: Small bottles labeled with a "Vaccine Covid-19" sticker and a medical syringe are seen in this illustration taken April 10, 2020. Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
File Photo: Small bottles labeled with a "Vaccine Covid-19" sticker and a medical syringe are seen in this illustration taken April 10, 2020. Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Nine leading US and European vaccine developers pledged on Tuesday to uphold the scientific standards that their experimental immunisations will be held against, amid a hurried global race to contain the pandemic.

The companies, including Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, in a joint statement made a "historic pledge... to uphold the integrity of the scientific process as they work towards potential global regulatory filings and approvals of the first Covid-19 vaccines".

The unusual move to promise to play by well-established rules underlines a highly politicised debate over what action is needed to quickly rein in the spread of the deadly disease and to jumpstart global business and trade.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The head of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said last month that the normal approval process may be bypassed for a Covid-19 vaccine as long as officials were convinced the benefits outweigh the risks, prompting a call for caution from the World Health Organisation.

Developers globally have yet to produce large-scale trial data showing actual infections in participants, yet Russia granted approval to a Covid-19 vaccine last month, prompting some Western experts to criticize a lack of testing.

The head of China's Sinovac Biotech said most of its employees and their families have already taken an experimental vaccine developed by the Chinese firm under the country's emergency-use programme.

"We want it to be known that also in the current situation we are not willing to compromise safety and efficacy," said co-signatory Ugur Sahin, the chief executive of Pfizer's German partner BioNTech.

"Apart from the pressure and the hope for a vaccine to be available as fast as possible, there is also a lot of uncertainty among people that some development steps may be omitted here," he added.

BioNTech and Pfizer have raised the prospect of unveiling pivotal trial data in October, potentially placing it at the centre of bitter US presidential politics ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

According to the statement, the nine companies pledge to follow established guidance from expert regulatory authorities such as the FDA.

Among other hurdles, approval must be based on large, diverse clinical trials with comparative groups that do not receive the vaccine in question. Participants and those working on the trial must not know which group they belong to, according to the pledge.

BioNTech's Sahin added there must be statistical certainty of 95 percent, in some cases higher, that a positive reading on efficacy does not just come from random variations but reflects the underlying workings of the compound.

The list of co-signatories is completed by Johnson & Johnson , Merck & Co, Moderna, Novavax and Sanofi.

Sahin said inclusion in the pledge broadly reflected a significant vaccines market share or a leading position in coronavirus vaccine development.

The frenetic development race has intensified safety concerns about an inoculation, polls have shown.

Western regulators have stressed they would not cut corners but rather prioritise the review workload and allow for development steps in parallel that would normally be handled consecutively.

covid-19 vaccine / US / Europe / Pfizer / AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine / GlaxoSmithKline

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Illustration: TBS
    Tax-free income ceiling to be raised, slabs restructured
  • Infographic: TBS
    Govt targets Dec opening of Dhaka airport's 3rd terminal but Japanese consortium wants 2 more months
  • Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus. File Photo: Courtesy
    CA Yunus returns home wrapping up Japan tour

MOST VIEWED

  • BAT Bangladesh has to vacate Mohakhali HQ as SC rejects lease appeal
    BAT Bangladesh has to vacate Mohakhali HQ as SC rejects lease appeal
  • Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus speaks to Nikkei Asia in Tokyo on 29 May. Photo: Nikkei Asia
    Bangladesh ready to buy more US cotton, oil to reduce trade gap: Yunus
  • UCB approves 2024 financials, allocates entire profit to NPL provisions
    UCB approves 2024 financials, allocates entire profit to NPL provisions
  • Tax exemptions for key industries to go, sweeping tax hikes planned
    Tax exemptions for key industries to go, sweeping tax hikes planned
  • Matarbari 1,200MW coal-fired plant in Moheshkhali, Cox's Bazar. File Photo: Nupa Alam/TBS
    Supplier slapped with 5 conditions to unload rejected Matarbari coal shipment
  • US Embassy Dhaka. Picture: Courtesy
    Birth tourism not permitted on US visitor visa: US Embassy Dhaka

Related News

  • Elon Musk leaving Trump administration, capping turbulent tenure
  • Touhid expresses concern over widespread rumour campaigns during meeting with USCIRF chair
  • Trump dumps Netanyahu
  • Bangladeshis in US may suffer as 5% tax proposed on sending remittances by non-citizens
  • Israeli strikes kill 146 Palestinians in Gaza in 24 hours, local health authorities say

Features

Babar Ali, Ikramul Hasan Shakil, and Wasfia Nazreen are leading a bold resurgence in Bangladeshi mountaineering, scaling eight-thousanders like Everest, Annapurna I, and K2. Photos: Collected

Back to 8000 metres: How Bangladesh’s mountaineers emerged from a decade-long pause

1d | Panorama
Photos: Courtesy

Behind the looks: Bangladeshi designers shaping celebrity fashion

1d | Mode
Photo collage of the sailors and their catch. Photos: Shahid Sarkar

Between sky and sea: The thrilling life afloat on a fishing ship

1d | Features
For hundreds of small fishermen living near this delicate area, sustainable fishing is a necessity for their survival. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

World Ocean Day: Bangladesh’s ‘Silent Island’ provides a fisheries model for the future

2d | The Big Picture

More Videos from TBS

Fuel prices cut; effective from June 1

Fuel prices cut; effective from June 1

2h | TBS News Updates
News of The Day, 31 MAY 2025

News of The Day, 31 MAY 2025

5h | TBS News of the day
Which way will the job crisis take the Chinese young generation?

Which way will the job crisis take the Chinese young generation?

5h | Others
How Banglalink is implementing Veon DO 1440

How Banglalink is implementing Veon DO 1440

4h | TBS Stories
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net