BioNTech soars 7% after its vaccine appears to work against new variants of COVID-19

• BioNTech soared as much as 7% on Friday following reports that its COVID-19 vaccine is effective against a variant strain recently found in the UK.
• According to a lab study conducted by Pfizer, the vaccine was effective in neutralizing the virus with the N501Y mutation of the spike protein.
• New variants of the COVID-19 strain found in the UK and South Africa are thought to be more contagious than the original strain.
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BioNTech jumped as much as 7% on Friday after a study was published showing that its COVID-19 vaccine is effective against a mutated strain of COVID-19 that has been found in the UK in recent weeks.

The new strain is thought to be more contagious than the original COVID-19 strain and has recently popped up in other countries in Europe and the United States.

According to a lab study conducted by Pfizer and scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch, the vaccine succeeded in neutralizing the virus with the N501Y mutation of the spike protein.

The lab study has not yet been peer reviewed and more studies will be required to ensure that the vaccine is effective against other strains of the virus.

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The study utilized blood taken from people who had already been given the vaccine, and the findings are limited because it does not look at the full set of mutations found in new variants of the virus. 

But the findings are still “good news” according to Phil Dormitzer, a vaccine scientist at Pfizer.

“So we’ve now tested 16 different mutations, and none of them have really had any significant impact. That’s the good news,” Dormitzer told Reuters.