A Vaccine for Lyme Disease Is In Its Final Clinical Trial

- NPR, Aug. 9, 2022.

Ticks that carry Lyme disease have been on the march, spreading into more forests and brush areas around the U.S. and Europe. But lovers of the outdoors could get a new weapon against Lyme, if a new vaccine candidate performs well. It aims to protect people as young as five.

If it were to gain regulators' approval, it would become the only Lyme disease vaccine available for humans in the U.S. But it's expected to take years for the potential vaccine to reach the market. If the phase-three study is a success, the companies say, they would likely seek official authorization in 2025... https://www.npr.org/2022/08/09/1116500921/lyme-disease-vaccine-final-clinical-trial-phase
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- AP News, Aug. 8, 2022. 'Major Test of 1st Possible Lyme Vaccine in 20 Years Begins.'

DUNCANSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Researchers are seeking thousands of volunteers in the U.S. and Europe to test the first potential vaccine against Lyme disease in 20 years -- in hopes of better fighting the tick-borne threat.

Lyme is a growing problem, with cases rising and warming weather helping ticks expand their habitat. While a vaccine for dogs has long been available, the only Lyme vaccine for humans was pulled off the U.S. market in 2002 from lack of demand, leaving people to rely on bug spray and tick checks.

Now Pfizer and French biotech Valneva are aiming to avoid previous pitfalls in developing a new vaccine to protect both adults and kids as young as 5 from the most common Lyme strains on two continents. “There wasn’t such a recognition, I think, of the severity of Lyme disease” and how many people it affects the last time around, Pfizer vaccine chief Annaliesa Anderson told The Associated Press... https://apnews.com/article/science-health-ticks-73fab8e29f3e2243c2db5bc33b3265e1