Pfizer and BioNTech advance next-generation COVID-19 vaccine strategy with study start of BNT162b4 aimed at enhancing breadth of T cell responses and duration of protection.
Pfizer Inc.and BioNTech SE announced that the companies have initiated a Phase 1 study to evaluate the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of a next generation COVID-19 vaccine candidate that aims to enhance SARS-CoV-2 T cell responses and potentially broaden protection against COVID-19
This candidate, BNT162b4, is composed of a T cell antigen mRNA encoding for SARS-CoV-2 non-spike proteins that are highly conserved across a broad range of SARS-CoV-2 variants and will be evaluated in combination with the companies’ Omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent COVID-19 vaccine.
These non-spike proteins have been chosen based on BioNTech's proprietary target prioritization platform and were designed into a vaccine candidate with the purpose of enhancing and broadening T cell immunity and potentially extending durability of protection against COVID-19.
BNT162b4 will be evaluated in a U.S.-based study (NCT05541861) enrolling approximately 180 healthy individuals between 18 and 55 years of age, who have received at least three doses of an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine. The trial will explore different dose levels of BNT162b4 administered in combination with a 30-µg dose of the companies’ Omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent COVID-19 vaccine and will be compared to the administration of a 30-µg dose of the Omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent COVID-19 vaccine as a booster.
This study is part of the companies’ long-term and multi-pronged scientific strategy to generate more robust, longer-lasting, and broader immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 infections and associated COVID-19. As part of this approach the companies are developing multiple vaccine candidates with the aim of delivering a potential pan-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.
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