Pfizer receives FDA approval for Prevnar 13 in adults age 18 through 49

Prevnar 13 is the only pneumococcal vaccine approved in the US for patients 6 weeks through adulthood.

Prevnar 13 is now approved for

The expanded age indication now more closely aligns with the 2012 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices (ACIP) recommendations for adults 19 years of age and older with immunocompromising conditions (e.g., HIV, chronic renal failure, cancer), functional or anatomic asplenia (e.g., sickle cell disease), cerebral spinal fluid leak, and Cochlear implants. This is in addition to recommendations set forth by ACIP in 2014 for adults 65 years and older.

“This expanded age indication in adults 18 to 49 offers an important public health benefit as appropriate vaccination against S. pneumoniae is critical to reducing the risk of pneumococcal disease, including in those with immunocompromising conditions," said Dr Luis Jodar, Chief Medical and Scientific Affairs Officer, Pfizer Vaccines.

The FDA’s decision to approve the label expansion followed the submission and review of data from an open-label, Phase III trial of Prevnar 13 in adults who were not previously vaccinated with the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23). The study, which was published in Vaccine in October 2015, compared the immunogenicity, safety, and tolerability of Prevnar 13 in adults age 18 to 49 years with adults age 60 to 64, for whom Prevnar 13 was already approved.