BioNTech CEO confident Covid vaccine works against ‘double mutant’ strain identified in India – CNBC

Early Friday morning in Asia, CNBC quotes BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin while stating, “He is ‘confident’ the company’s Covid-19 vaccine with US partner Pfizer is effective against a coronavirus variant first identified in India.”

The news further said, “The strain, known as B.1.617, contains two key mutations that have been found separately in other coronavirus variants. The variant, also referred to as the ‘double mutant’ was first spotted in India where it’s thought by some to be behind a recent surge in new Covid-19 cases there.”

It should, however, be noted that Sahin said the company won’t know for sure until it has more data, per the news.

Market reaction

Following the recent challenges to the market sentiment, as well as lack of confirmation in the BioNTech story, global markets paid a little heed to the news as S&P 500 Futures seesaw around 4,200 by the press despite Wall Street’s upbeat performance.

Also read: AstraZeneca’s struggle, China’s fresh restrictions on big techs may weigh on sentiment