Lyme disease vaccine has a 73% success rate
Photo by Mufid Majnun | Unsplash
A new vaccine for Lyme disease has proven to be more than 73% effective, according to Pfizer and Valneva, a French biotech company.
In addition, the new vaccine had no safety concerns, according to findings from a phase-three study called Vaccine Against Lyme for Outdoor Recreationists (VALOR).
After Pfizer released results of the study in March, the company announced plans to seek FDA approval for the vaccine.
According to the CDC, about 476,000 Americans are diagnosed and treated each year. People aged 51 to 60 make up about a quarter of those affected by Lyme disease.
“Lyme disease can cause potentially serious consequences — where individuals and families face symptoms that can disrupt daily life, work and long-term health — and there is currently no vaccine available,” Annaliesa Anderson, Ph.D., Pfizer’s senior vice president and chief vaccines officer, said in a statement.
“These results bring us a step closer to our goal of delivering a much-needed vaccine to help protect against Lyme disease,” added Thomas Lingelbach, CEO and board member of Valneva, which partnered with Pfizer to develop the vaccine.
The randomized study of 9,400 people in the U.S., Canada and Europe compared the effects of four doses of the trial vaccine to a placebo.
Early symptoms of Lyme disease include fever, fatigue, headache, stiff neck and muscle and joint pain — but not always the telltale bullseye rash. Left untreated, it can progress to arthritis, heart problems and neurological symptoms.
The first and only FDA-approved Lyme disease vaccine was only on the market for a few years. Its manufacturer, the company now known as GlaxoSmithKline, discontinued the vaccine in 2002, citing lack of consumer demand.
So far, antibiotics are the only effective treatment for the disease.
