
Pfizer-BioNTech says it has submitted new data to the US Food and Drug Administration to show that its Covid-19 vaccine can be stored at warmer temperatures.
In a news release Friday, Pfizer said this new data demonstrates its vaccine can be stable when stored between -25 degrees Celsius to -15 degrees Celsius for two weeks – the temperature of more common refrigerators and freezers.
Currently, the label for Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine says it must be stored in ultra-cold freezers between -80 degrees Celsius to -60 degrees Celsius, lasting up to six months, or it can be stored at normal refrigeration temperatures (2 degrees Celsius to 8 degrees Celsius) for up to five days, before mixing with a saline diluent.
This submission is in hopes the company’s EUA would be updated to include these warmer two-week storage options.
“We appreciate our ongoing collaboration with the FDA and CDC as we work to ensure out vaccine can be shipped and stored under increasingly flexible conditions. If approved, this new storage option would offer pharmacies and vaccination centers greater flexibility in how they manage their vaccine supply,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in the company’s release.