Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth, announced the initiation of the Community Acquired Pneumonia Immunization Trial in Adults a major study in adults of an investigational 13-valent conjugate vaccine designed to help prevent pneumococcal pneumonia - the leading cause of bacterial pneumonia in adults.

In Europe and the United States, pneumococcal pneumonia is the most common community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, for which the adult mortality rate averages between 10 to 20 per cent. That rate may exceed 50 per cent in high-risk groups worldwide.

The results from this trial are not intended or required for inclusion in Wyeth's currently planned regulatory filings for the use of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate candidate vaccine in adults. Rather, this study is being initiated proactively as part of a phase-4 commitment, and in agreement with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The study is a double-blind, placebo-controlled study expected to enroll approximately 85,000 participants 65 years of age and older. The study is being conducted by the Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care at the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands. Participants in the trial will receive either Wyeth's investigational 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine or placebo.

"We are very excited to conduct this major trial addressing the important disease of adult pneumonia," says Marc Bonten, principal investigator of the trial and Professor of Molecular Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medical Microbiology, Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht. "The primary goal of the trial is to evaluate whether the vaccine is effective in preventing the onset of community acquired pneumonia caused by the serotypes included in the vaccine. The trial will also evaluate whether the vaccine is effective in preventing all-cause pneumonia and invasive pneumococcal disease."

The investigational 13-valent vaccine being evaluated in this trial in adults uses Wyeth-pioneered conjugation technology, and is based on the science of Prevenar (Pneumococcal Saccharide Conjugated Vaccine, Adsorbed). Prevenar is indicated for active immunization of infants and children from six weeks through nine years of age against invasive disease, pneumonia and otitis media caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes 4, 6B, 9V, 14, 18C, 19F and 23F. The study vaccine includes six serotypes (1, 3, 5, 6A, 7F and 19A), in addition to the seven serotypes included in Prevenar. The 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine is currently being studied in late-stage global clinical trials in both infants and adults.

"Pneumococcal pneumonia in adults represents a significant burden, both clinically and economically," says Emilio Emini, executive vice president, Vaccine Research and Development, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. "This will be an important trial to evaluate our conjugate vaccine's potential to address this medical need."

Pneumonia is a leading cause of death and hospitalization, costing health care systems billions of dollars and an estimated 600,000 adult deaths worldwide each year.

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth, has leading products in the areas of women's health care, infectious disease, gastrointestinal health, central nervous system, inflammation, transplantation, hemophilia, oncology, vaccines and nutritional products.