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Pfizer’s Prevnar 20 vaccine wins FDA approval 

By Brian Buntz | June 11, 2021

Pfizer-BioNTechPfizer’s (NSE:PFE) pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine Prevnar 13 is one of pharma’s bestsellers, earning nearly $6 billion last year.

Now, the company has scored FDA approval for its Prevnar 20 vaccine for adults 18 and older.

The vaccine is the first to offer protection against 20 serotypes of pneumococcal disease that cause the majority of pneumonia and invasive pneumococcal disease. In addition to the capsular polysaccharide conjugates already included in Prevnar 13, the new vaccine adds conjugates for seven different serotypes linked with invasive pneumococcal disease, antibiotic resistance and meningitis.

“With a single injection, Prevnar 20 provides adults with strong and meaningful protection against serotypes responsible for the majority of circulating pneumococcal disease around the world,” said Kathrin U. Jansen, senior vice president and head of vaccine research and development at Pfizer, in a statement.

Pfizer oversaw Phase 1 and 2 trials for the Prevnar 20 in addition to three Phase 3 studies for Prevnar 20.

Merck (NYSE:MRK) is currently working on an investigational 15-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. The company now lags far behind Pfizer in terms of its pneumococcal vaccine sales.

Merck, however, recently announced that its V114 investigational 15-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine met its primary immunogenicity and safety endpoints in two studies.

Merck is also pursuing marketing authorization for the V114 vaccine.


Filed Under: clinical trials, Drug Discovery, Infectious Disease
Tagged With: Merck, Pfizer, pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate, pneumococcal 20-valent conjugate, Prevnar 13, Prevnar 20, V114
 

About The Author

Brian Buntz

As the pharma and biotech editor at WTWH Media, Brian has almost two decades of experience in B2B media, with a focus on healthcare and technology. While he has long maintained a keen interest in AI, more recently Brian has made making data analysis a central focus, and is exploring tools ranging from NLP and clustering to predictive analytics.

Throughout his 18-year tenure, Brian has covered an array of life science topics, including clinical trials, medical devices, and drug discovery and development. Prior to WTWH, he held the title of content director at Informa, where he focused on topics such as connected devices, cybersecurity, AI and Industry 4.0. A dedicated decade at UBM saw Brian providing in-depth coverage of the medical device sector. Engage with Brian on LinkedIn or drop him an email at bbuntz@wtwhmedia.com.

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