This is a new big blow for this American giant of the pharmaceutical industry. After flooding the world with its Covid-19 antidote, Pfizer is now set to launch its bronchiolitis vaccine, reports Le Figaro, Thursday, March 9. This disease affects 33 million babies every year worldwide, including 120,000 who die after it. With this serum to treat RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), the American laboratory mainly targets pregnant women and the elderly.
Started last October, the tests should soon be approved by the American health authority, the FDA. “We hope to get a green light in time to be able to deploy our vaccine from the next winter season,” said Annaliesa Anderson, scientific manager of R&D for Pfizer’s vaccines division at Le Figaro. “We benefit from accelerated procedures in the United States and Europe,” she added. According to her, the vaccine for seniors should be approved around May and that for pregnant women from August.
A market that could bring in 13 billion a year
France, currently plagued by RSV, should also quickly follow suit. Each year, 50,000 hospitalizations are to be deplored in the territory, 69% of which are infants under the age of one. A godsend for Pfizer, which does not hide the fact that it also wants to conquer Europe. The American giant has already launched the production of thousands of doses around the world, including on European soil.
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Because the market for seniors and infants is heavy, very heavy. By itself, that of the elderly could bring in 10 billion dollars annually within ten years. That of babies, 3 billion. Enough to revive the ticket machine, while vaccines against Covid-19 will tend to decline in the years, even months, to come. By 2022, they had brought in $37.8 billion for Pfizer.
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