Pfizer Inc. Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said that a key safety milestone had been reached in the study of its COVID-19 vaccine, and the drugmaker is now preparing to seek an emergency-use authorization from U.S. regulators.
Speaking at a virtual conference hosted by the New York Times on Tuesday, Bourla said the company was preparing to submit its data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Last week, Pfizer and its partner BioNTech SE reported that an interim analysis showed their experimental vaccine was more than 90 per cent effective in preventing symptomatic cases of COVID-19.
“We are preparing now for submissions,” Bourla said at the conference without specifying when it anticipated to file for an emergency use authorization.
Nonetheless, Bourla added, important questions about the vaccine still remain to be answered. “When it comes to how durable the protection could be, this is something we don’t know yet,” he said.
Bourla added that Pfizer would soon release more detailed efficacy results.
Pfizer shares were up 1.6 per cent at 3:22 p.m. in New York.
Safety Data
Pfizer and BioNTech had been working to accumulate two months of follow-up safety data on volunteers who had received the full two-dose regimen of their vaccine. The FDA requires the information for emergency clearance.
The safety data is one of the last hurdles needed before Pfizer and BioNTech can apply for emergency authorization. The New York-based drug giant will continue to monitor trial participants well after any authorization or approval in order to assure that safety concerns don’t crop up later, Bourla said.
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The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is slightly ahead of one from Moderna Inc. in the race to the finish line. Moderna announced Monday that its own candidate was 94.5 per cent effective. Moderna expects to get the safety data it needs by the end of the month, allowing it to file for emergency clearance in the coming weeks.
Bourla said at the New York Times conference that Pfizer had not been overly specific when it reported “more than 90 per cent efficacy” because that number was likely to fluctuate as the trial gained more cases. The company will report out an additional number once it publishes fuller data, he said.
mRNA Platform
The drug industry executive spoke alongside Bill Gates and Heidi J. Larson, director of the Vaccine Confidence Project, in a discussion about vaccine development, distribution and uptake.
The most recent trial results are “a glorious confirmation of the power of the technology,” Bourla said, referring the the novel messenger RNA used in Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine.
Bourla’s tenure at Pfizer spans more than 27 years. He said at a later conference held Tuesday by the online media publication STAT that it was one of the best days of his life when he learned of the vaccine’s success.
“You’re relieved because the news that you’re expecting to hear will not only determine the future of the company, but the future of your world,” Bourla said. “I felt that I was living a dream.”
Tumult, Scrutiny
At other times throughout the pandemic, the company has faced political tumult and scrutiny, Bourla said.
The Pfizer chief rebutted concerns that he sought to report the effectiveness of the vaccine before Election Day, potentially influencing the outcome of the U.S. presidential vote.
“I did not have any political or any artificial timelines in my mind,” Bourla said. Instead, at the start of the company’s work on the vaccine, he set an October goal after his scientists said the product would only be ready by mid-2021.
He pushed for the earlier date, he said, to have a vaccine ready for a possible winter surge of infections.
“I said, ‘Go back and see how many people would die’” if there were a new spike in cases. But the October timeline became publicly conflated with President Donald Trump’s political ambitions.
Bourla said he didn’t take U.S. taxpayer dollars for the vaccine’s research and development in order to avoid politics that might be attached to the effort. “When you want to go from the middle of next year to the middle of October, you need to remove any bureaucracy,” he said. “And I knew this would become very political.”
Most job search advice is cookie-cutter. The advice you’re following is almost certainly the same advice other job seekers follow, making you just another candidate following the same script.
In today’s hyper-competitive job market, standing out is critical, a challenge most job seekers struggle with. Instead of relying on generic questions recommended by self-proclaimed career coaches, which often lead to a forgettable interview, ask unique, thought-provoking questions that’ll spark engaging conversations and leave a lasting impression.
Your level of interest in the company and the role.
Contributing to your employer’s success is essential.
You desire a cultural fit.
Here are the top four questions experts recommend candidates ask; hence, they’ve become cliché questions you should avoid asking:
“What are the key responsibilities of this position?”
Most likely, the job description answers this question. Therefore, asking this question indicates you didn’t read the job description. If you require clarification, ask, “How many outbound calls will I be required to make daily?” “What will be my monthly revenue target?”
“What does a typical day look like?”
Although it’s important to understand day-to-day expectations, this question tends to elicit vague responses and rarely leads to a deeper conversation. Don’t focus on what your day will look like; instead, focus on being clear on the results you need to deliver. Nobody I know has ever been fired for not following a “typical day.” However, I know several people who were fired for failing to meet expectations. Before accepting a job offer, ensure you’re capable of meeting the employer’s expectations.
“How would you describe the company culture?”
Asking this question screams, “I read somewhere to ask this question.” There are much better ways to research a company’s culture, such as speaking to current and former employees, reading online reviews and news articles. Furthermore, since your interviewer works for the company, they’re presumably comfortable with the culture. Do you expect your interviewer to give you the brutal truth? “Be careful of Craig; get on his bad side, and he’ll make your life miserable.” “Bob is close to retirement. I give him lots of slack, which the rest of the team needs to pick up.”
Truism: No matter how much due diligence you do, only when you start working for the employer will you experience and, therefore, know their culture firsthand.
“What opportunities are there for professional development?”
When asked this question, I immediately think the candidate cares more about gaining than contributing, a showstopper. Managing your career is your responsibility, not your employer’s.
Cliché questions don’t impress hiring managers, nor will they differentiate you from your competition. To transform your interaction with your interviewer from a Q&A session into a dynamic discussion, ask unique, insightful questions.
Here are my four go-to questions—I have many more—to accomplish this:
“Describe your management style. How will you manage me?”
This question gives your interviewer the opportunity to talk about themselves, which we all love doing. As well, being in sync with my boss is extremely important to me. The management style of who’ll be my boss is a determining factor in whether or not I’ll accept the job.
“What is the one thing I should never do that’ll piss you off and possibly damage our working relationship beyond repair?”
This question also allows me to determine whether I and my to-be boss would be in sync. Sometimes I ask, “What are your pet peeves?”
“When I join the team, what would be the most important contribution you’d want to see from me in the first six months?”
Setting myself up for failure is the last thing I want. As I mentioned, focus on the results you need to produce and timelines. How realistic are the expectations? It’s never about the question; it’s about what you want to know. It’s important to know whether you’ll be able to meet or even exceed your new boss’s expectations.
“If I wanted to sell you on an idea or suggestion, what do you need to know?”
Years ago, a candidate asked me this question. I was impressed he wasn’t looking just to put in time; he was looking for how he could be a contributing employee. Every time I ask this question, it leads to an in-depth discussion.
Other questions I’ve asked:
“What keeps you up at night?”
“If you were to leave this company, who would follow?”
“How do you handle an employee making a mistake?”
“If you were to give a Ted Talk, what topic would you talk about?”
“What are three highly valued skills at [company] that I should master to advance?”
“What are the informal expectations of the role?”
“What is one misconception people have about you [or the company]?”
Your questions reveal a great deal about your motivations, drive to make a meaningful impact on the business, and a chance to morph the questioning into a conversation. Cliché questions don’t lead to meaningful discussions, whereas unique, thought-provoking questions do and, in turn, make you memorable.
Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers “unsweetened” job search advice. You can send Nick your questions to artoffindingwork@gmail.com.
CALGARY – Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. reported a third-quarter profit of $2.27 billion, down from $2.34 billion in the same quarter last year.
The company says the profit amounted to $1.06 per diluted share for the quarter that ended Sept. 30 compared with $1.06 per diluted share a year earlier.
Product sales totalled $10.40 billion, down from $11.76 billion in the same quarter last year.
Daily production for the quarter averaged 1,363,086 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 1,393,614 a year ago.
On an adjusted basis, Canadian Natural says it earned 97 cents per diluted share for the quarter, down from an adjusted profit of $1.30 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 90 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2024.
CALGARY – Cenovus Energy Inc. reported its third-quarter profit fell compared with a year as its revenue edged lower.
The company says it earned $820 million or 42 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, down from $1.86 billion or 97 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $14.25 billion, down from $14.58 billion in the same quarter last year.
Total upstream production in the quarter amounted to 771,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 797,000 a year earlier.
Total downstream throughput was 642,900 barrels per day compared with 664,300 in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Cenovus says its funds flow amounted to $1.05 per diluted share in its latest quarter, down from adjusted funds flow of $1.81 per diluted share a year earlier.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2024.
