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Immunobridging trials: Working to bring medicines to patients faster
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Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have played a significant role in addressing the devastating impact of COVID-19.
The development, manufacture and supply of our COVID-19 vaccine was a principal achievement within our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In partnership, we built over 25 supply networks across 15 different countries, delivering two billion doses and saving an estimated six million lives in the first year alone. Complementing our vaccines approach, we advanced research efforts into the potential of monoclonal antibodies to provide protection to the immunocompromised.
We are proud that our efforts have been recognised by governments around the world and are widely regarded as being a critical component of ending the global pandemic.
Now in the endemic phase, we remain committed to discovering and developing new approaches to fight COVID-19, with a focus on protecting the most medically vulnerable patients who remain significantly and disproportionally impacted by COVID-19 and are at risk of more severe disease.
While the world moves on from COVID-19, the urgency to protect vulnerable patients from this disease remains at the forefront of our ambitions, as we continue to explore the best and most efficient pathways and processes to support timely access to new preventative therapies.
Health professionals, governments and scientific societies should recognise the ongoing burden of COVID-19 on people who are immunocompromised and their families. Real-world evidence highlights that despite representing about 4% of the population, immunocompromised individuals account for about 25% of COVID-19 hospitalisations, ICU admissions and deaths.1 In addition, these patients also face a considerable economic burden, with data showing that immunocompromised individuals accounted for about one-third (about $310 million US) of the total COVID-19 US hospitalisation costs in 2022.2 We remain committed to exploring innovative solutions to help protect the most vulnerable patients in this ever-changing COVID-19 landscape
Q&A with Tonya Villafana, VP Franchise and Medical & Scientific Affairs, Vaccines & Immune Therapies
Our work continues to support the needs of the immunocompromised as they continue to endure significant and disproportionate burden from COVID-19. Learn more from patients Johanne, Miguel, and Paul/Emma.
From the latest news on antibody testing to our ever-developing covid research, learn about our efforts to combat COVID-19.
1. Evans RA et al. Impact of COVID-19 on immunocompromised populations during the Omicron era: Insights from the observational population-based INFORM study. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe. 2023;0(0):100747. doi:10.1016/J.LANEPE
2. Ketkar A et al. Assessing the burden and dost of COVID-19 across variants in commercially insured immunocompromised populations in the United States: Updated results and trends from the ongoing EPOCH-US study. Adv Ther. 2024. doi:10.1007/s12325-023-02754-0
3. World Health Organization. COVID-19 epidemiological update – 19 January 2024. [cited March 2024]. Available from: http://www.who.int/publications/m/item/covid-19-epidemiological-update---19-january-2024
4. Our World in Data. Coronavirus (COVID-19) hospitalizations. [cited March 2024]. Available from: http://ourworldindata.org/covid-hospitalizations#citation
5. World Health Organization. WHO press conference on global health issues – 10 January 2024. [cited March 2024]. Available from: http://www.who.int/multi-media/details/who-press-conference-on-global-health-issues-10-january-2024
6. Centers for Disease Control. COVID data tracker: Trends by geographic area (hospitalisation). [cited March 2024]. Available from: http://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklyhospitaladmissions_select_00
7. Centers for Disease Control. People who are immunocompromised. [cited March 2024]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-who-are-immunocompromised.html
8. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Understanding how COVID-19 vaccines work. [cited March 2024]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/how-they-work.html
9. Haidar G et al. Prospective evaluation of coronavirus cisease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine responses across a broad spectrum of immunocompromising conditions: the COVID-19 vaccination in the immunocompromised study (COVICS). Clin Infect Dis. 2022 75(1):3630-e644. doi: 10:1093/cid/ciac103
10. Obeid M et al. Humoral responses against variants of concern by COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in immunocompromised patients. JAMA Oncol. 2022 May;8(5):E220446. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2022.0446
11. Benning L et al. Neutralizing antibody response against the B.1.617.2 (delta) and the B.1.1.529 (omicron) variants after a third mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine dose in kidney transplant recipients. Am J Transplant. 2022;22:1873–83
12. Tartof SY et al. Effectiveness of a third dose of BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in a large US health system: A retrospective cohort study. Lancet Reg Health Am. 2022 May 9:doi: 10.1016/j.lana.2022.100198
13. All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vulnerable Groups to Pandemics. Covid-19 Inquiry Update and Position Statement, March 2023.
14. Maia T, et al. Post-lockdown behaviors and impacts of avoiding COVID-19 in patients and caregivers of patients at high-risk of severe COVID-19: a qualitative study. Poster at ISPOR 2023, Boston. [cited March 2024]. Available from: http://www.ispor.org/docs/default-source/intl2023/ispor23williamsposter-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=cbfe579f_0
15. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Immunity types. [cited March 2024]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/immunity-types.htm
16. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Laboratory confirmed Influenza Hospitalizations. [cited March 2024]; Available from: http://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/fluview/fluhosprates.html
17. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. COVID-NET interactive dashboard. [cited March 2024]. Available from:
http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covidnetdashboard/de/powerbi/dashboard.html
18. Fritzell B. Bridging studies. Dev Biol Stand. 1998 [cited March 2024];95:181–8. Available from: http://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9855430/
19. Khoury DS et al. Correlates of protection, thresholds of protection, and immunobridging among persons with SARS-CoV-2 Infection. Emerg Infect Dis. 2023;29(2):381–8.
20. PREVNAR 20 Package Insert. [cited March 2024]. Available from: http://labeling.pfizer.com/ShowLabeling.aspx?id=15428
21. Donken R et al. Immunogenicity of 2 and 3 doses of the quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine up to 120 months postvaccination: Follow-up of a randomized clinical trial. Clin Infect Dis. 2020;71(4):1022–9
22. Fink D. Immunobridging to evaluate vaccines. [cited March 2024]. Available from: http://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/blue-print/doran-fink_4_immunobridging_vrconsultation_6.12.2021.pdf
23. Lendacki FR, et al. Breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infections among recipients of tixagevimab-cilgavimab prophylaxis: A citywide real-world effectiveness study. Transpl Infect Dis. 2024;26:314194. doi: 10.1111/tid.14194