Posted on Wed, Nov. 18, 2009
A panel of federal health experts today voted in favor of an updated version of Pfizer Inc.'s best-selling anti-infection vaccine for infants and toddlers. The full Food and Drug Administration must still approve the vaccine, but it usually follows panel decisions.
Sales for the current version of Prevnar have surpassed $2.7 billion and drove Pfizer's recent $64.4 billion purchase of Wyeth.
The new vaccine reduces risk of infection from 13 strains of the Streptococcus pneumoniae bacteria, which causes thousands of cases of ear infection, meningitis and pneumonia each year. Pfizer's studies failed to meet predetermined goals for three of those strains. - Miriam Hill
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