Merck’s pneumococcal shot shows promise in at-risk children and teens

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

(Reuters) – Merck’s pneumococcal vaccine triggered immune responses in children and teens who are at higher risk of serious illness in a late-stage study, the drugmaker said on Thursday.

The company was testing the shot, Capvaxive, against its older vaccine Pneumovax 23, in children aged two years and above and teens aged below 18 years, who have completed a primary pediatric pneumococcal vaccination regimen, and have one or more chronic medical conditions that put them at increased risk.

Capvaxive is already approved for adults in the U.S., European Union and Japan among other places.

The shot generated immune responses against 21 strains of the bacteria responsible for pneumococcal infections, which can cause severe illnesses including pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis.

In the study that had 882 participants, Capvaxive was shown to be noninferior to Pneumovax 23 against the 12 bacterial strains common to both vaccines and superior against the nine unique to Capvaxive, at 30 days after vaccination, Merck said.

Proportion of patients with treatment-related side effects were comparable for the two vaccines, the drugmaker said.

Merck also offers two other pneumococcal vaccines: Vaxneuvance for individuals aged six weeks and older and Pneumovax 23 for adults over 50 and children above two.

Pfizer’s shot Prevnar 20, which protects against 20 strains of the bacteria, is approved for individuals above six weeks of age.

Pneumococcal disease spreads through direct contact with respiratory secretions such as saliva or mucus. Children younger than five and adults older than 65 are at an increased risk of contracting the disease.

(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)