Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2020 September 23

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September 23

How come moderna can last at much more much higher temprature than Pfizer's?

I've read recently that Moderna's vaccine for covid-19 can last at around 60 degree more than Pfizer's. My question is why, given that they both use the same technique?--Exx8 (talk) 22:11, 23 September 2020 (UTC)

What do you mean by "can last at around 60 degree"? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:42, 23 September 2020 (UTC)

I'd like to know which degrees are being discussed here. Celsius? Kelvin? HiLo48 (talk) 03:49, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

The magnitude of a temperature difference measured in degrees Celsius is the same as when the unit is the kelvin, so why do you ask?  --Lambiam 09:27, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

Well it won't be kelvin, because "the kelvin is not referred to or written as a degree". Mitch Ames (talk) 06:57, 24 September 2020 (UTC)

One specifies that it must be stored in liquid nitrogen or other quite low temperature dry ice, while the other just needs refrigeration. This greatly affects how it can be distributed. Pfizer's vaccine degrades in less than 24 hours at room temperature.[1] Graeme Bartlett (talk) 23:16, 23 September 2020 (UTC)

Just by way of clarification, Moderna's vaccine requires a transport temperature of -20°C [2]. This is a relatively easy temperature to reach with refrigeration, even most households freezers may be able to achieve it or at least very close although they probably lack the stability to be suitable for storage of the vaccine. Still it's outside the norm for most vaccines or drugs. Nil Einne (talk) 23:31, 23 September 2020 (UTC)

I don't know if it's been clearly published why Moderna's vaccine candidate can be stored at higher temperatures than BioNTech/Pfizer's, bearing in mind that these didn't exist 9 months ago and it's to some extent likely commercially sensitive. You can probably get some idea by looking at what was published previously on BioNtech and Moderna's platforms, especially their respective lipid nanoparticle encapsultations as I think these are biggest contributions. Nil Einne (talk) 23:31, 23 September 2020 (UTC)

Here we can read that Moderna's vaccine needs to be stored at temperatures not higher than −4 °F (−20 °C), while Pfizer's are reported to require a cool −94 °F (−70 °C). Both are developing mRNA vaccines, but these are different molecules and so may differ in stability and degrade at different temperatures.  --Lambiam 09:36, 24 September 2020 (UTC)