Pfizer and Valneva Plan Lyme Vaccine Filing Despite Missed Trial Goal

Pfizer and Valneva announced this spring that they plan to seek regulatory approval for a vaccine to protect against Lyme disease, Npr reported. The companies state their four-dose candidate is about 75 percent effective in reducing cases, though it missed one trial endpoint because not enough participants contracted the disease. About 476,000 people in the U.S.

May be diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease each year, according to the CDC. The range of places where cases have been reported has expanded since 1995. A previous Lyme disease vaccine became available in the late 1990s and was pulled three years later.

KFF Health News interviewed eight hunters and one hiker at the Busch Shooting Range in Weldon Spring, Missouri. " Six of the eight interviewed hunters said they would consider a Lyme vaccine but wanted more information on safety, effectiveness, and personal risk. Steven Rinella and his older son contracted Lyme disease 13 years ago during a bluegill fishing trip in the Hudson Valley, New York.

Rinella received intravenous antibiotic treatments for one month after symptoms lingered, and he said he would consider a Lyme vaccine if it proved safe and provided considerable protection. Jeremy Hollingshead said he knows of only one person among hundreds he knows who has contracted Lyme disease.

Julian Barnes said he is vaccine-hesitant generally but would consider a Lyme vaccine because of a relative’s experience.

JP Cummings said he would not be interested, stating, "I kind of hand it off to God and the body he gave me. " A Pfizer spokesperson told KFF Health News in June there were no updates on regulatory efforts for the Lyme vaccine. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced an initiative to combat Lyme disease in May.