Amid cold chain blues, Pfizer looks to powder vaccine formula in 2021: report

Pfizer on Monday revealed stellar early results from its phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial, but the news was quickly met with concerns about access as the vaccine comes with hefty cold chain requirements. Pfizer, for its part, already has its sights set on a next-generation formula that could help resolve those storage concerns, the drugmaker's top scientist said.

The drugmaker is weighing several options for an improved vaccine that could be ready as early as 2021. "For the COVID-19 disease, I think we'll roll out next year a vaccine in powder format," Pfizer's chief scientist, Mikael Dolsten, told Business Insider Monday.