Pneumococcal

LONDON — Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline signed a landmark 10-year deal March 23 to supply 60 million doses a year of cut-price pneumococcal vaccines to developing nations.

Pneumococcal

LONDON — Several drug companies have agreed on a landmark deal to supply up to 200 million doses a year of cut-price pneumococcal vaccines to developing nations, according to the global immunization alliance that is overseeing the deal.

Pneumococcal

Children younger than 5 who already got four doses of Pfizer Inc.'s Prevnar 13 vaccine should get a fifth booster dose of the new version that covers more strains of pneumonia-causing bacteria.

A vaccine introduced in 2000 has been highly effective in reducing the number of severe lung, blood and brain infections in infants and children. But at the same time, a serious and sometimes fatal complication has become more common.

A nonprofit organization is paying the Food and Drug Administration to help develop a better vaccine against pneumococcal disease in poor countries, The New York Times reported Feb. 1.

Pneumococcal

PATH, an international nonprofit global health organization, recently signed an agreement with the University of Kansas Center for Research to support the advancement of vaccine candidates across its vaccine development portfolio.

World Health Organization

NEW YORK — Pfizer Inc. announced Dec. 30 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not yet completed its review of the biologics license application for Prevnar 13, its candidate pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.

Pneumococcal vaccine

While a nationwide push for vaccination against H1N1 and seasonal flu has led to long lines for shots, another vaccine against a common and deadly flu complication — pneumonia — hasn't gotten nearly as much attention.

ATLANTA, Ga. — The Centers for Disease Control issued a warning Nov. 25 that catching the H1N1 virus can put patients at risk, not only of developing complications, but also serious bacterial pneumonia.

BETHESDA, Md. — Federal health experts said Nov. 17 that an updated version of Pfizer's best-selling anti-infection vaccine is safe and effective for infants and toddlers, despite company studies that failed to meet certain goals.