Pfizer announces upcoming mRNA technology expansion for shingles

Pfizer announces upcoming mRNA technology expansion for shingles.

PFIZER CEO Albert Bourla proudly announces the company’s upcoming mRNA technology expansion for shingles – technology that is used in the current Covid vaccine developed with BioNTech. Clinical trials are set to begin in the second half of 2022 and if successful, the vaccine could be the first mRNA shot for preventing shingles.
“Pfizer is committed to advancing cutting-edge science, including novel mRNA technology. We have proudly entered a third mRNA vaccine collaboration with BioNTech to discover and develop an mRNA-based vaccine for shingles,” Bourla announced on January 5.
A company statement said that shingles impact about one in three people in the United States during their lifetime, noting that it is a “debilitating, disfiguring and painful disease.”
“The collaboration builds on the companies’ success in developing the first approved and most widely used mRNA vaccine to help prevent COVID-19,” the statement said.
“This is the third collaboration between Pfizer and BioNTech in the infectious diseases field, following the influenza vaccine collaboration initiated in 2018 and the COVID-19 vaccine collaboration initiated in 2020.”  

“Pfizer and BioNTech co-developed the world’s first mRNA vaccine, providing a well-tolerated and effective tool to help address COVID-19 – the most devastating pandemic in a century – and demonstrating consistent, agile and high-quality manufacturing on an unprecedented scale,” said Mikael Dolsten, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and President, Worldwide Research, Development & Medical, Pfizer.
“With this agreement, we continue on our journey of discovery together, by advancing mRNA technology to tackle another health challenge ripe for scientific innovation, supported by our world-class manufacturing network,” he said.
CEO and Co-Founder of BioNTech, Ugur Sahin, M.D., said: “The collaboration aims to develop a new mRNA-based vaccine against shingles, leveraging the expertise and resources of both companies.
“Adults aged 50 years and older, as well as vulnerable populations like cancer patients, are at an increased risk of shingles. Our goal is to develop an mRNA vaccine with a favourable safety profile and high efficacy, which is at the same time more easily scalable to support global access,” he concluded.

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