Human Lyme Disease Vaccine Enters Clinical Trials

Climate change has led to the expansion of Lyme-disease bearing ticks - both geographically, and seasonally. In order to combat the potential spread of Lyme in humans, Pfizer and French drugmaker Valneva are working on a new human Lyme vaccine.

The potential vaccine, VLA15, targets a surface protein of the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. It is a similar mechanism to a vaccine that was previously on the market - LYMERix. That vaccine was highly effective in preventing Lyme disease, but consumers complained about side effects such as arthritis. Despite FDA researchers showing no correlation between the vaccine and those side effects, sales did not pick up and the vaccine was discontinued. 

The new vaccine was designed to avoid the protein region that some attributed to the side effects, and the phase three study will enlist 6,000 people from ages five and up in areas where Lyme is prevalent. For more, head over to NPR or listen to our podcast on the topic.