Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) announced that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP) voted to expand its recommendation for the use of certain pneumococcal vaccines, including PREVNAR 20 ^® (20-valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine) for all adults aged 50 and older. This recommendation is pending final approval by the director of the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services. With respect to PREVNAR 20, ACIP recommended:

• Vaccination is recommended for all adults aged ≥50 years and for adults aged 19–49 years with certain underlying conditions or risk factors who have not received a PCV or whose vaccination history is unknown. 

“ACIP’s vote to expand adult pneumococcal vaccination to now include all adults aged 50 and older marks an important milestone in Pfizer’s long-standing commitment to reducing the burden of this life-threatening disease,” said Luis Jodar, PhD, Senior Vice President, Vaccines and Anti-Infectives Chief Medical Affairs Officers, Pfizer. “PREVNAR 20 offers protection against the serotypes responsible for the majority of invasive pneumococcal disease cases in this age group. Expanding its use also provides an opportunity to limit the re-emergence of disease-causing strains like serotype 4, which has recently affected certain U.S. adult populations and is covered by the vaccine.”

In the U.S., the 20 serotypes contained in PREVNAR 20 are estimated to cause over 2,000 deaths and more than 65,000 cases of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), including bacteremia and meningitis, and community-acquired pneumonia annually in adults aged 50 to 64.  Between 2018 and 2022, more than half of IPD cases in people aged 50 to 64 were caused by these 20 serotypes.  Vaccination with PREVNAR 20 helps prevent serotype 4 disease, which incidence has been rising in certain populations in the western U.S.