Pfizer and BioNTech made the announcement this week that they are working on a combined COVID-19 and flu vaccine, and they started testing it.
According to the firms, the Phase 1 research includes 180 individuals from the United States who are between the ages of 18 and 64. This Thursday, the organization gave the first dose of the combination vaccination to its patients.
According to Pfizer and BioNTech, the vaccine is a mix of their omicron-adapted bivalent COVID-19 vaccine and Pfizer’s quadrivalent modRNA-based influenza vaccine candidate for use against the flu.
Vaccinations against the influenza virus are now advised for almost everyone aged 6 months and older. Those over the age of 12 who have already had two prior shots of the COVID-19 vaccine are eligible to get the revised COVID-19 boosters.
Although being vaccinated against the flu has been an annual tradition for many people, it is still unclear if COVID-19 shots will be delivered in the same manner. Some government health officials think that COVID-19 vaccinations may need to be given every year to protect against a drop in immunity caused by previous illnesses and injections.
“By combining both indications in one vaccine approach, we aim to provide individuals with an efficient way to receive immunization against two severe respiratory diseases with evolving viruses that require vaccine adaptation,” said Ugur Sahin, CEO and co-founder of BioNTech. “The data will also provide us with more insights on the potential of mRNA vaccines addressing more than one pathogen. This will help us to further develop our infectious disease pipeline to deliver on patient-centric vaccination approaches.”
The Food and Drug Administration said that the objective of the Phase 1 studies is to investigate the viability of the vaccine and determine the appropriate dose. Around 70% of these trials are in Phase 2, which evaluates effectiveness and adverse effects.
In only one out of every three Phase 2 trials, researchers go on to Phase 3, when they study participants’ adverse reactions and recruit a greater number of individuals. About one in every four trials doesn’t make it to the final step, which involves testing the medication or vaccine on patients who already have illnesses or ailments.
