Pfizer-BioNTech Alliance to Test Combined Covid and Flu Vaccine

The American pharmaceutical group Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech announced this Thursday (3) the start of the first phase of testing a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine that combines protection against influenza and Covid-19.

The two companies have developed one of the most used vaccines in the world to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

A combined vaccine using mRNA technology “could simplify vaccination practices against these two respiratory pathogens, potentially leading to better disease coverage,” Annaliesa Anderson, Pfizer’s chief scientific officer, said in a statement.

Pfizer and BioNTech join the group of laboratories trying to develop a combined vaccine.

Moderna has started phase 1 of a vaccine against the flu and covid, the American laboratory confirmed on Thursday at the same time as it announced the quarterly results.

In mid-October, the American biotechnology laboratory Novavax announced the “positive results of phase 1 and 2 clinical trials” of a vaccine of this type.

In 2020, BioNTech and Pfizer were able to quickly and successfully create the world’s first approved Covid-19 vaccine, which generated billions of euros in revenue for both companies.

The company, based in the German city of Mainz, will be responsible for testing the safety, immune response and optimal dose level of a combination vaccine candidate, recruiting 180 healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 64 in the United States, according to a communicated.

The follow-up period for each participant will be six months.

Messenger RNA allows human cells to produce proteins present in the virus to habituate the immune system to recognize and neutralize it.

The testing phase will be used to detect “the potential of mRNA vaccines targeting more than one pathogen,” said Ugur Sahin, president and co-founder of BioNTech, in the statement.