Vaccine/Antibody updates

[tower912]

Some would say it is bad optics to tout snake oil.   Or go public before you have your ducks in a row

[lawdog77]

Some would say it is bad optics to tout snake oil.   Or go public before you have your ducks in a row

I am not defending Trump (I can't stand him), but for people to say Pfizer, or it's announcement is nonpolitical is disingenuous.

[Hards Alumni]

Some would say it was bad optics to hold off the announcement of 90% effectiveness until1 week after the election.

They're stuck between a rock and a hard place.  Either way, 70m+ people are going to be salty.

I am not defending Trump (I can't stand him), but for people to say Pfizer, or it's announcement is nonpolitical is disingenuous.

Hogwash.  They have nothing to gain from a later announcement.  Put the conspiracy theories to rest.

[The Sultan]

Some would say it was bad optics to hold off the announcement of 90% effectiveness until1 week after the election.

[4everwarriors]

Iz hogwash anythin' moor dan soap and water? Axin' four a friend, hey?

[lawdog77]

Why did Ezekial Emanuel (Biden's guy) author a letter to Bouria is September telling him to slow down the predictions of when the vaccine would be ready?

[Hards Alumni]

Iz hogwash anythin' moor dan soap and water? Axin' four a friend, hey?

It's pig food, not what you clean them with.

[wadesworld]

Voter fraud.  Conspiracies about vaccines (and news about vaccines) being held off to make sure Sleepy Joe gets elected president.  I'm loving this stuff.  Highly entertaining.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Can we please not get this thread locked and move onto another topic.  This has been a helpful source of info.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

I am not defending Trump (I can't stand him), but for people to say Pfizer, or it's announcement is nonpolitical is disingenuous.

Or: Science

https://ldi.upenn.edu/news/five-ldi-senior-fellows-among-65-top-health-experts-letter-cautioning-pfizer-ceo-against

Eroding public trust
"In a Sept. 25 letter to Bouria, 65 of the nation's top academic health authorities told the CEO Pfizer's accelerated vaccine process was eroding public trust in ways that could ultimately cause enough people to refuse to take the drug, preventing the achievement of national herd immunity. Signing the letter were individual leaders from U.S. medical schools, including the University of Pennsylvania, University of California, Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, NYU, Duke, Vanderbilt, George Washington, California, Tulane, Washington, and others."

<snip>

Rigorous safety standard
"If your vaccine is 75 percent effective," their letter told the Pfizer executive, "an estimated two thirds of the population would need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. This vaccination rate would far exceed that of the annual influenza vaccine. To be successful, the public needs to have the utmost trust in the vaccine and the science behind it. This is why a rigorous safety standard based on science is so essential."

An unfortunately large swatch of the electorate listens to Scott Atlas, promotes Dr. Demon Sperm's remedies, and sees George Soros around every corner, but we'd be far better off as a country if we'd listen to science.

[forgetful]

Some would say it was bad optics to hold off the announcement of 90% effectiveness until1 week after the election.

There are at least 3 guiding factors on when to make the announcement.

1. Most importantly, they need to have sufficient data and analysis to ensure that their vaccine is as effective as they want to/can claim. For instance, if they want to make the 90% announcement (instead of say a 75% announcement) they need more data and have to wait longer. The 90% number is a big one, and even if they had sufficient data to announce, say 75%, they would wait for the 90% number.

2. Next most important. Competition. They would like to make sure that their announcement is preferentially first, and most effective. So they will be keeping an eye on other vaccine progress. It is then a bit of a game of chicken, wait longer to make a higher effectiveness claim (be best) and make the all early enough to be first.

3. News cycles. For stock price purposes, and public perception, you want to make your announcement when it will dominate the news cycle.

What is absolutely not part of the process is politics.

[GooooMarquette]

There are at least 3 guiding factors on when to make the announcement.

1. Most importantly, they need to have sufficient data and analysis to ensure that their vaccine is as effective as they want to/can claim. For instance, if they want to make the 90% announcement (instead of say a 75% announcement) they need more data and have to wait longer. The 90% number is a big one, and even if they had sufficient data to announce, say 75%, they would wait for the 90% number.

2. Next most important. Competition. They would like to make sure that their announcement is preferentially first, and most effective. So they will be keeping an eye on other vaccine progress. It is then a bit of a game of chicken, wait longer to make a higher effectiveness claim (be best) and make the all early enough to be first.

3. News cycles. For stock price purposes, and public perception, you want to make your announcement when it will dominate the news cycle.

What is absolutely not part of the process is politics.

Agreed. There is HUGE $$$$ and prestige on the line, so it would be monumentally stupid to delay the announcement for anything but scientific or financial reasons.

[lawdog77]

Or: Science

https://ldi.upenn.edu/news/five-ldi-senior-fellows-among-65-top-health-experts-letter-cautioning-pfizer-ceo-against

Eroding public trust
"In a Sept. 25 letter to Bouria, 65 of the nation's top academic health authorities told the CEO Pfizer's accelerated vaccine process was eroding public trust in ways that could ultimately cause enough people to refuse to take the drug, preventing the achievement of national herd immunity. Signing the letter were individual leaders from U.S. medical schools, including the University of Pennsylvania, University of California, Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, NYU, Duke, Vanderbilt, George Washington, California, Tulane, Washington, and others."

That quote does not sound like science to me. Sounds like these health authorities did not like who was giving the message.

[mu_hilltopper]

Saw a chart today (Colorado, but likely standard) on the phases of vaccine distro.

Phase 1 was about medical/first responders, 1B was "highest risk" elderly.

Next was "Congregate Housing" people .. homeless shelters, adults in group homes, students in dorms (!!!) and adults in jail (!!!!) -- and also workers who were in those buildings.

Next, Higher Risk people .. Age 65+, others with risk factors, diabetes, obesity, lung disease, etc. 

Last was the rest of us schlubs.

I'm having a bucket of KFC tonight to jump the line.  Or rob a bank?

Also .. will you need to prove your health risk?  "Yeah, I have asthma, gimme the shot now please."

[Jockey]

I (and I think I can speak for many others here), wish to wholeheartedly thank Forgetful and Goo for all of the information that they have shared here.

There have been a few others as well, but I think those 2 guys stand out.

[tower912]

Saw a chart today (Colorado, but likely standard) on the phases of vaccine distro.

Phase 1 was about medical/first responders, 1B was "highest risk" elderly.

Next was "Congregate Housing" people .. homeless shelters, adults in group homes, students in dorms (!!!) and adults in jail (!!!!) -- and also workers who were in those buildings.

Next, Higher Risk people .. Age 65+, others with risk factors, diabetes, obesity, lung disease, etc. 

Last was the rest of us schlubs.

I'm having a bucket of KFC tonight to jump the line.  Or rob a bank?

Also .. will you need to prove your health risk?  "Yeah, I have asthma, gimme the shot now please."

More Arby's will be just fine.

[MU82]

With more than 100,000 new confirmed U.S. cases reported daily for more than a week, Trump has been more focused on tracking the rollout of a vaccine, which won't be widely available for months. He has fumed that Pfizer intentionally withheld an announcement about progress on its vaccine trial until after Election Day, according to a White House official who was not authorized to publicly comment and spoke on condition of anonymity. Pfizer said it did not purposely withhold trial results.

Because, as usual, it's all about one person. Every human and corporation is doing everything just to punish that one person. Such a victim. So sad.

[shoothoops]

It's a pre-planned stock sale for Pfizer CEO. What was not pre-planned was the date of the announcement, which could have been any other day. The announcement just so happened to be on the same day as his stock sale, and he pockets $5.6 million. 

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

It's a pre-planned stock sale for Pfizer CEO. What was not pre-planned was the date of the announcement, which could have been any other day. The announcement just so happened to be on the same day as his stock sale, and he pockets $5.6 million.

I don't think this is precisely right.  He likely had a 10b5-1 program in place that said if the stock hit a certain value sell automatically.  This is used by people who are frequently locked out of the market for purposes of insider information and gives safe harbor since it is set up in advance.  This would be particularly true in the case of a vaccine news coming.  It would make it very difficult for executives to realize that portion of their compensation.

[shoothoops]

I don't think this is precisely right.  He likely had a 10b5-1 program in place that said if the stock hit a certain value sell automatically.  This is used by people who are frequently locked out of the market for purposes of insider information and gives safe harbor since it is set up in advance.  This would be particularly true in the case of a vaccine news coming.  It would make it very difficult for executives to realize that portion of their compensation.

He announced that he was modifying/adopting the 10b5-1 plan ONE DAY before announce phase results data. And this came shortly before this weeks announcement. Many of course are wondering what he knew and when. But I am sure it's just a big coincidence. (Maybe he will be donating all of that money.)

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

He announced that he was modifying/adopting the 10b5-1 plan ONE DAY before announce phase results data. And this came shortly before this weeks announcement. Many of course are wondering what he knew and when. But I am sure it's just a big coincidence. (Maybe he will be donating all of that money.)

These are highly regulated processes involving corporate legal review. I'm sure he wanted to benefit from the fact that his company knocked it out of the park with both the first vaccine and a 90% effective vaccine.  He however did not profit from that until the market knew the same information.

I can see why this is a story, but the mechanics of it are all proper and in place to ensure one doesn't trade on info until public. 

[shoothoops]

These are highly regulated processes involving corporate legal review. I'm sure he wanted to benefit from the fact that his company knocked it out of the park with both the first vaccine and a 90% effective vaccine.  He however did not profit from that until the market knew the same information.

I can see why this is a story, but the mechanics of it are all proper and in place to ensure one doesn't trade on info until public.

Being technically legal and being a good thing are not necessarily the same thing.

[Skatastrophy]

Being technically legal and being a good thing are not necessarily the same thing.

If the stock didn't hit the price point he picked and it didn't trigger a sale it would be non-news. Being a covered employee is a huge pain in the ass, and they watch ALL of the trades you make not just the ones involving stock options. It's incredibly highly regulated. You're barking up the wrong tree here.

I have to call in and tell a central office every planned purchase or sale of anything in the stock market because of reasons. They get to approve or deny it. They literally have access to my brokerage/retirement accounts to monitor it all. It's a wild amount of oversight, and super hard to make money off of the information we know in advance.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Being technically legal and being a good thing are not necessarily the same thing.

You should just say your issue more plainly then.  You don't believe people in the company should benefit from the value they created by solving a huge public need created by the virus. 

This literally has been the best news and biggest positive surprise of the pandemic. 

[GooooMarquette]

You should just say your issue more plainly then.  You don't believe people in the company should benefit from the value they created by solving a huge public need created by the virus. 

This literally has been the best news and biggest positive surprise of the pandemic.

Agreed. Employees who own company stock should most definitely benefit from the value of what they created.

I only get upset about alleged insider trading when someone on the inside sells just before the stock price plummets...which clearly is NOT what happened here.