US biotech conglomerate Arcturus Therapeutics in a statement said that it expects to start distributing its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the first quarter of next year after early-stage trials indicated promising results.
The company said it had struck supply deals with Israel and Singapore, where it works on the vaccine with a university and has been conducting trials, and was urgently working to start later stage trials. The California-based company's announcement came as Pfizer said its COVID-19 vaccine is more than 90 percent effective based on initial trial results.
The news from Pfizer, which could pave the way for its vaccine to be rolled out by year-end, weighed sharply on the shares of Arcturus, which closed down 45 percent, and other smaller vaccine developers. Arcturus added in its statement that its ARCT-021 candidate has been generally well-tolerated in trials so far.
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