Pfizer: Advisory Committee On Immunization Practices Votes To Recommend Routine Use Of Pfizer’s PREVNAR 20™ (Pneumococcal 20-Valent Conjugate Vaccine) In Adults

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) announced today that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to recommend PREVNAR 20™ (Pneumococcal 20-valent Conjugate Vaccine) for routine use to help protect adults against invasive disease and pneumonia caused by the 20 Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) serotypes in the vaccine. Specifically, the ACIP voted to recommend the following:

Adults 65 years of age or older who have not previously received a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine or whose previous vaccination history is unknown should receive a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (either PCV20 or PCV15). If PCV15 is used, this should be followed by a dose of PPSV23.
Adults aged 19 years of age or older with certain underlying medical conditions or other risk factors1 who have not previously received a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine or whose previous vaccination history is unknown should receive a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (either PCV20 or PCV15). If PCV15 is used, this should be followed by a dose of PPSV23.
The recommendations will be forwarded to the director of the CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for review and following approval, the recommendations are published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. This will represent the first-time any pneumococcal conjugate vaccine has been routinely recommended for certain risk populations ages 19 to 64 years, such as people with diabetes and asthma.

“A single dose of PREVNAR 20 helps protect adults against vaccine-type pneumococcal pneumonia and invasive pneumococcal disease during a period where their risk is gradually increasing due to aging among other factors. Today’s vote acknowledges the important role of adult immunizations in helping protect eligible populations against certain potentially serious respiratory diseases during the current pandemic and beyond,” said Luis Jodar, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Pfizer Vaccines. “The ACIP recommendation recognizes the significance as well of helping protect more populations under age 65 with co-morbid and immunocompromising conditions who are at increased risk of disease against these 20 disease-causing serotypes.”

The seven additional serotypes in PREVNAR 20 represent 30 percent of overall of invasive pneumococcal disease burden in U.S. adults.2 Pneumococcal pneumonia results in more than 180,000 adult hospital admissions and more than 150,000 adult outpatient visits in the U.S. each year.3

“The new simplified ACIP recommendation may offer the opportunity to improve immunization rates and therefore help prevent more disease,” said Nanette Cocero, Ph.D., Global President, Pfizer Vaccines. “We believe that as U.S. health care professionals start implementing this ACIP recommendation, once endorsed by the CDC Director, PREVNAR 20 recommended as a single dose has the potential to provide an important public health benefit for adults. Building on Pfizer’s more than 20-year legacy of developing and supplying pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, we remain committed to working with the healthcare and public health communities to raise awareness of the importance of adult immunization and encourage recommended individuals to get vaccinated.”