Tag:
pneumococcus
Latest Headlines
Latest Headlines
Affinivax nets another $2.5M from Gates Foundation to advance Prevnar competitor
Cambridge, MA-based Affinivax launched in November 2014 with a $4 million Gates Foundation investment and plans to develop a pneumococcal vaccine that it believes could go beyond Prevnar, the best-selling vaccine in the world. Now, the biotech is announcing $2.5 million in follow-on funding from the Gates Foundation, which it will use to advance its lead candidate, CEO Steve Brugger told FierceVaccines.
Sanofi inks a Korean alliance to develop a pneumococcal vaccine
The French Big Pharma is paying SK Chemicals $23 million up front, after which both companies will invest in the project.
CDC: Adult vaccination rates are still well below targets
The National Adult Vaccination Program and others have proposed strategies to raise the proportion of adults getting vaccinated against pneumococcal disease, shingles and hepatitis B, but the latest data shows little change in immunization rates.
Genocea files IPO papers in a bid to raise $75M for vaccine development
The past year will go down as the biggest for biotech IPOs since 2000 and a good time for the firms who braved frosty conditions to go public in 2011 and 2012. Vaccine developer Genocea Biosciences is now set to be among the first to test conditions in 2014 having filed its S-1 just before the holiday season.
WHO injects Prevnar 13 with adult prequalification status
Prevnar 13 is the first and only pneumococcal vaccine to be granted WHO prequalification for adults.
UPDATED: In U.K., Pneumovax trumps Pfizer's Prevnar 13
Looks like Pfizer's pneumococcal vaccine Prevenar 13 is down on its luck in the U.K.; the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation shafted the shot in favor of Pneumovax for adults and high-risk individuals.
Genocea's HSV-2 vax to hit the clinic
There is no preventive vaccine or cure, but Genocea Biosciences has a prophylactic HSV-2 vaccine moving into a first in-human clinical trial in third quarter 2012, Chip Clark, president and CEO told FierceVaccines at BIO 2012. Seth Hetherington, CMO, was also at the meeting, presenting in the session "Therapeutic Vaccines Against Chronic Infectious Diseases: Vaccines versus Microbes Part 2."
Pneumococcal vax cuts deaths, but cases tripled
While vaccines against Streptococcus pneumoniae have cut the number of deaths from this bug that can cause pneumonia and meningitis, the number of cases has tripled in the past 50 years.
FDA experts back Pfizer's Prevnar 13 for older adults
In a 14-1 vote, a panel of FDA experts say Pfizer's ($PFE) Prevnar 13 protected adults over 50 from pneumococcal infections, paving the way for a likely approval in January. Earlier this week agency
Merck, Serum Institute sign pneumococcal vaccine deal
Merck ($MRK) and the Serum Institute of India are joining forces to bring a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to emerging and developing markets. The deal includes a product advisory committee that will
