Shares of Pfizer (PFE) rose Wednesday after the Food and Drug Administration approved a new version of a vaccine called Prevnar 13, which could lead to billions in additional sales for Pfizer once the vaccine heads to market.
Prevnar is given to infants and young children to protect from seven strains of bacteria. The new version will cover an additional six strains of bacteria, hence the name Prevnar 13. The new version of Prevnar covers a more virulent strain of bacteria known as 19A as one of the six additional strains the new version of Prevnar vaccinates against.
“The approval of Prevnar 13 means that infants and young children in the United States will have access to a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine that provides coverage against 13 serotypes that could potentially result in life-threatening illnesses,” says Emilio Emini, chief scientific officer of vaccine research at Pfizer. “Together, these 13 serotypes are responsible for the majority of invasive pneumococcal disease in the United States.”
Prevnar is a key new product for Pfizer, which is facing the patent expiration of its blockbuster drug Lipitor in 2011. The new Prevnar vaccine was under development by Wyeth when Pfizer decided to purchase the company for $68 billion.
According to Dow Jones, the current version of Prevnar had $2.7 billion in sales in 2008 and has been successful in reducing the number of cases of pneumococcal diseases in the U.S. since its release in 2000. It is expected that Pfizer will charge a premium for Prevnar 13 and keep Prevnar 7 on the market.
Prevnar 13 is recommended to be administered as a four-dose series to children at 2, 4, 6, and 12 to 15 months of age, Pfizer said.
Shares of Pfizer were up 1.6% to $17.95 a share on Wednesday.
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