Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID flu vaccine disappoints in test

German company BioNTech and US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced on Friday that they had suffered a setback in a late-stage study of their combined mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 and influenza.

In a Phase 3 study, the combination vaccine showed a stronger immune response against the influenza A strain than against the less common influenza B strain.

The combination vaccine is just as effective against COVID as the companies' single vaccine, it said.

The study was conducted with more than 8,000 people between the ages of 18 and 64.

Pfizer and BioNTech said they would “review adjustments to the combination vaccine candidate aimed at improving the immune response against influenza B and discuss next steps with health authorities.”

The disappointing result comes after rival mRNA vaccine maker Moderna said in June that its combination vaccine against flu and COVID had performed better in an advanced clinical trial than currently approved individual vaccines against the viruses.

The messenger RNA method made its debut with the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, which was approved as the first COVID vaccine in the West in late 2020.

Scientists believe that mRNA vaccines could be a breakthrough in the fight against many diseases. They trigger an immune response by introducing genetic molecules containing the code for important parts of a pathogen into human cells.

In addition, their development is more time-efficient than that of conventional vaccines.

BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine was developed and approved by regulators in less than a year.

The German company is also working on mRNA-based vaccines against malaria and shingles as well as mRNA-based cancer therapies.

The World Health Organization said last year that it no longer considered COVID-19 a global health emergency, although the virus was still circulating.

© 2024 AFP