Pfizer to conduct Lyme disease vaccine test in Maine

Deer ticks are the major spreaders of Lyme disease.

The Emerson Cemetery in Lyme. Wear long socks!

Edited from a report by The New England Council (newenglandcouncil.com)

“Pfizer has partnered with a Maine health care system to conduct the third phase of a Lyme disease clinical trial to test the efficacy of the company’s vaccine. Pfizer, a leading biomedical company, has chosen to work with Valneva, a French specialty vaccine company.

(Lyme disease gets its name from the coastal town in Connecticut where symptoms of the disease were documented and studied by Yale researchers in the 1970s. )

“The trial, held at Northern Light Health system in Brewer, will span over 13 months and require patients to take two shots two months apart. In March, the patients will need to receive a booster shot before the next summer’s tick season. Pfizer, and Valneva, choose to approach the Northern Light Health system during the clinical trial due to Maine having one of the highest rates of Lyme disease in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Kathrin U. Jansen, Ph.D., senior vice president and head of vaccine research & development at Pfizer, said, ‘{T}he medical need for vaccination against Lyme disease is steadily increasing as the geographic footprint of the disease widens. These positive pediatric data mark an important step forward in the ongoing development of VLA15, and we are excited to continue working with Valneva to potentially help protect both adults and children from Lyme disease.”’

Wilson Street, Brewer, Maine. Lyme disease has been relentlessly moving north with the warming climate. The city was once well known for brick-making, shipbuilding and paper-making.

— Photo by P199