Pfizer, BioNTech Launch Omicron-Adapted COVID Shot-Flu Combination Vaccine Study

Pfizer Inc PFE and its German partner BioNTech SE BNTX have started an early-stage study to evaluate a combination vaccine targeting COVID-19 and influenza.
The single-dose vaccine candidate combines Pfizer's quadrivalent modRNA-based influenza vaccine candidate, qIRV (22/23), which is currently in Phase 3 clinical development, and Pfizer / BioNTech's authorized Omicron-adapted bivalent COVID-19 shot.
Related: European Advisory Committee Backs Pfizer/BioNTech's COVID Shot For Younger Kids
The early-stage study, which BioNTech is sponsoring, aims to evaluate the combination shot's safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity, or the ability to generate an immune response.
The trial is being conducted in the U.S., and the companies aim to enroll 180 volunteers between 18 and 64. The first participant in the study was dosed earlier this week.
The follow-up period for each participant will be a total of six months.
With the dwindling demand for COVID-19 shots, vaccine makers may be seeking to raise prices.
Pfizer's executive Angela Lukin said the company could roughly quadruple the price of its COVID-19 vaccine to about $110 to $130 per dose from $30 after the U.S government's current purchase program expires in 2023.
Price Action: PFE shares are down 1.26% at $46.48, and BNTX stock is up 1.45% at $143.58 on the last check Thursday.