Immunization Awareness Month: Vaccine developments you may have missed in 2023

August is National Immunization Awareness Month. To mark the occasion, we compiled a list of vaccine stories you may have missed in 2023.

NIAID launches trial of universal flu vaccine candidate

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases announced in May that it has started enrolling adults in a phase 1 trial of an experimental universal influenza vaccine using a messenger RNA platform. Read more.

A dozen African countries will receive 18 million doses of the world’s first malaria vaccine

Twelve countries in Africa are set to receive 18 million doses of the world’s only licensed malaria vaccine over the next 3 years, with the first 4 million doses expected to be available in early 2024. Read more.

Takeda pulls application for dengue vaccine

Takeda announced that it voluntarily pulled a regulatory application for its dengue vaccine after the FDA expressed concerns about data it said were missing from the application. Read more.

TB vaccine candidate gets up to $550 million in funding for phase 3 trial

Wellcome and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced in June they would fund the trial of an experimental tuberculosis vaccine that has been in development since the early 2000s. Read more.

FDA advisors say new COVID-19 vaccines should be monovalent, target XBB

FDA advisors recommended a shift to monovalent XBB-lineage vaccines and removing the wild strain of SARS-CoV-2 from the shots. Read more.

Pentavalent meningitis vaccine continues to show promise in phase 3 trial

A single dose of a pentavalent vaccine against Neisseria meningitidis was shown to be safe and effective, in addition to eliciting immune responses similar to three commercially available quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccines. Read more.

Jynneos vaccine offers ‘substantial’ protection against mpox, studies find

Three studies found that fractional dosing of the mpox vaccine was effective at preventing the infection in people considered high-risk after the 2022 outbreak. Read more.

FDA approves Pfizer’s RSV vaccine for older adults

The FDA approved Pfizer’s RSV vaccine weeks after it approved one from GSK — the first two vaccines ever approved for the respiratory illness. Read more.

CDC advisors give nod to 20-valent pneumococcal vaccine for children

CDC advisors recommended the 20-valent pneumococcal vaccine for children, which includes five additional serotypes not included in the 15-valent vaccine. Read more.

‘Reassuring’: Single dose of 9-valent HPV vaccine effective

One dose of the 9-valent HPV vaccine generated a sustained immune response for up to 2 years, suggesting a one-dose schedule would be effective in areas with limited resources where two- and three-dose schedules are logistically difficult. Read more.