Lyme disease is spreading—a new vaccine could curb infections

[mountaineer]

Pfizer, of course. 

Lyme disease is spreading—a new vaccine could curb infections
A new Lyme disease vaccine made by Pfizer and Valneva could lower infection rates of the tick-borne illness, but federal approval and patient uptake could be a challenge
By Tara Haelle edited by Tanya Lewis
April 9, 2026
Scientific American

Since pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Valneva announced positive results from their phase 3 trial of a vaccine to prevent Lyme disease last month, two questions have loomed large: Will the vaccine receive approval from the Food and Drug Administration. And if so, will the U.S. public accept it?

An effective vaccine could put a huge dent in the growing burden of Lyme disease. Populations of the ticks that spread the disease are growing, and nearly a half-million estimated cases of Lyme disease occur in the U.S each year. But the vaccine must overcome the same obstacles that caused an earlier Lyme vaccine to be pulled from the market in 2002.

The recent announcement showed the vaccine was capable of preventing Lyme disease infection. But its efficacy was only about 73 to 75 percent. The trial also faced several setbacks, including quality concerns that led Pfizer to drop about half the study population several years ago. The results also were not as statistically powerful because fewer infections occurred than expected in the placebo group during the trial. Still, clinicians are approaching the latest news with cautious optimism. “I do think this is great news,” says Martin Backer, an infectious disease physician at NYU Langone Health, who was involved in a previous pediatric trial of this vaccine. “Time will tell about the acceptability.” ...

[MeganC]

I will not be taking another shot made out of repackaged mRNA.

[mountaineer]

Sounds like they're jumping the gun on getting FDA approval, but I claim no expertise in this area.

Valneva CEO on Pfizer-partnered Lyme vaccine: Why a phase 3 miss doesn’t tell the whole story
By Angus Liu
Apr 1, 2026 3:00pm

In the world of clinical trials, missing the primary endpoint of a pivotal trial typically spells real trouble for a drug program. But for Valneva CEO Thomas Lingelbach, the regulatory future of the company’s Pfizer-partnered Lyme disease vaccine, VLA15, is very much “a matter of negotiation.”

“It’s a matter of bringing all the arguments together that could allow them to show a certain degree of flexibility,” Lingelbach said of the FDA in an interview with Fierce on the sidelines of the World Vaccine Congress Washington 2026.

The phase 3 Valor trial technically failed to meet its primary endpoint, which measured the rate of Lyme disease among participants 28 days after they received the fourth dose of either the vaccine or placebo. In the study, the lower bound of the 95% confidence interval dipped below the predetermined threshold of 20%, causing the miss. But from an efficacy standpoint, the six-valent shot, also dubbed PF-07307405, showed a 73.2% improvement compared with placebo at that point.  ...

https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/valneva-ceo-pfizer-partnered-lyme-vaccine-why-phase-3-miss-doesnt-tell-whole-story

[PeteS in CA]

I will not be taking another shot made out of repackaged mRNA.

This vaccine is protein sub-unit technology not bogey-mRNA technology.

[catfish1957]

This vaccine is protein sub-unit technology not bogey-mRNA technology.

Shame the COVID faux-vax debacle jaded (rightfully) so many.  It'll take decades to  regain the public trust.

[MeganC]

This vaccine is protein sub-unit technology not bogey-mRNA technology.

It's Pfizer. I do not trust them.

[PeteS in CA]

If you've ever received vaccination for tetanus, that is a protein sub-unit vaccine. It's a very mature vaccine technology, often used against bacteria.

[Smokin Joe]

One of the problems with Lyme is that the spirochete that causes it is hard to see without using dark field microscopy. A recent test, requested for Lyme came back negative for syphilis. (Considering I was faithful to my wife for 23 years (up until her death) and haven't had any opportunities to catch syphilis in the time since, that was a real comfort. I was more concerned about a tick bite.)

Another is the dogmatic assumption that 'you can't have Lyme disease, because it isn't present around here' (despite having been bitten by a tick 2000 miles away).

Until the medical establishment gets its head out of its ass, it will continue to be a problem.