Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth, has submitted a marketing authorization application (MAA) to the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) for approval to market its investigational 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) for infants and young children. Wyeth is seeking an indication for the prevention of pneumococcal disease (PD) caused by the 13 serotypes included in the investigational vaccine in infants and children from two months to five years of age. The review of the MAA will be coordinated by the EMEA for all 27 countries in the European Union, as well as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

PCV13 includes the 13 most prevalent pneumococcal serotypes associated with serious PD. Seven of these (4, 6B, 9V, 14, 18C, 19F and 23F) are included in Prevenar (Pneumococcal saccharide conjugated vaccine, adsorbed) - the current global standard in PD prevention in infants and young children. The six additional serotypes (1, 3, 5, 6A, 7F and 19A) are associated with the greatest burden of remaining invasive disease. Both Prevenar (also known as PCV7) and PCV13 use CRM197 - an immunological carrier protein with a 20-year history of use in paediatric vaccines.

"This submission is an important milestone for Wyeth and underscores the company's commitment to help protect current and future generations from serious pneumococcal disease," says Emilio Emini, executive vice president, Vaccine Research and Development, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. "Since its introduction, Prevenar has had a substantial impact on public health, dramatically reducing the rate of invasive pneumococcal disease where it is routinely used. Our investigational 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine is designed to broaden protection, with the potential to cover up to 92 percent of invasive pneumococcal disease in infants and young children worldwide."

The PCV13 submission to EU regulators includes data from 12 phase-3 studies, involving more than 7,000 infants and young children. Data from these studies have demonstrated that, for the pnemococcal serotypes common to both vaccines, the immunogenicity of PCV13 is comparable to that of Prevenar using a pre-determined set of immunological criteria. In addition, PCV13 elicits antibacterial functional antibodies to the six additional serotypes. These observations indicate that PCV13 may be as effective as Prevenar in helping to prevent invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) due to the seven shared serotypes in the vaccines and may also be effective in helping to prevent IPD due to the six additional serotypes. The results also showed that the safety and tolerability of PCV13 and Prevenar are comparable, and that PCV13 can be administered with other commonly used paediatric vaccines.

Earlier this year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation to PCV13 for infants and toddlers. Fast Track designation is designed to facilitate review of products for serious or life-threatening conditions for which there is an unmet medical need. The company expects to complete its US filing for paediatric use of the vaccine in the first quarter of 2009, while initiating other paediatric filings in the near term. PCV13 is also being studied in global phase-3 clinical trials in adults, with regulatory filings expected in 2010.

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