Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Pfizer (PFE), BNTX's COVID-Flu Combo Jab Gets FDA Fast Track Tag

Read MoreHide Full Article

Pfizer (PFE - Free Report) announced that the FDA granted fast-track designation to its early-stage mRNA-based vaccine candidate targeting influenza and COVID-19. The vaccine is being developed in collaboration with BioNTech (BNTX - Free Report) .

Fast Track is designed to facilitate the development and acceleration of the review of drugs to treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need or offer a potential advantage over the existing treatments. A candidate granted Fast Track designation is also eligible for rolling review.

The vaccine is a combination of Pfizer/BioNTech’s authorized Omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent COVID-19 vaccine and their investigational quadrivalent modRNA-based influenza vaccine. It is currently being evaluated in a phase III study.

Shares of Pfizer have lost 6.3% in the year so far against the industry’s 16.3% rise.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Last month, Pfizer and BioNTech initiated a phase I study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of this COVID-19/influenza combination vaccine in 180 healthy study participants aged 18 through 64 years.

Through their combination vaccine, Pfizer/BioNTech aim to simplify immunization practices against two respiratory diseases caused by evolving viruses that require vaccine adaptation.

Like Pfizer/BioNTech, several other companies like Moderna (MRNA - Free Report) and Novavax (NVAX - Free Report) are also developing their combination vaccines targeting both influenza and COVID-19 indications in early-stage development.

Moderna is evaluating mRNA-1073, its own mRNA-based combination vaccine, in a phase I/II study. mRNA-1073 is a combination of Spikevax (mRNA-1273), Moderna’s approved/authorized COVID-19 vaccine, and mRNA-1010, an investigational flu vaccine currently in phase III development. Moderna’s phase I/II study is evaluating mRNA-1073 to co-administered mRNA-1010 and mRNA-1273 and to mRNA-1010 and mRNA-1273 administered alone.

Novavax is also evaluating a COVID-19-influenza combination (CIC) vaccine candidate in a phase I/II study. The CIC vaccine combines NVX-CoV2373, its authorized protein-based COVID vaccine, and its investigational influenza vaccine in a single formulation. In October, Novavax announced top-line data from this study which demonstrated the CIC vaccine was feasible and immunogenic. The immune responses were comparable to the standalone influenza vaccine candidate and standalone NVX-CoV2373 formulations. Novavax expects to begin a confirmatory phase II study evaluating this vaccine by this year’s end.

Zacks Rank

 

Pfizer currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Published in