Pfiz­er rolls out next-gen pneu­mo­coc­cal vac­cine with FDA win, beat­ing Mer­ck­'s 15-va­lent can­di­date to the punch

Mer­ck and Pfiz­er have been locked in a years­long bat­tle for a next-gen pneu­mo­coc­cal vac­cine win­ner, with the lat­ter look­ing to one-up — or should we say sev­en-up — its stan­dard 13-va­lent shot. Now, Pfiz­er has nosed out a win with the FDA’s back­ing, leav­ing Mer­ck and its 15-va­lent shot wait­ing in the wings.

Pfiz­er said on Tues­day that the FDA has ap­proved its Pre­vnar 20 for adults 18 years and old­er — just over a month be­fore Mer­ck’s PDU­FA date for its V114. The CDC’s Ad­vi­so­ry Com­mit­tee on Im­mu­niza­tion Prac­tices is sched­uled to meet in Oc­to­ber to dis­cuss and up­date rec­om­men­da­tions on the use of pneu­mo­coc­cal vac­cines, ac­cord­ing to Pfiz­er.

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