Pfizer Phase 1 – 2 Trial Data on RSV Vaccine Candidate

Dr. Phil Dormitzer, VP and CSO, Viral Vaccines at Pfizer Vaccines Research and Development discusses the significance of new data presented at the 2019 IDWeek conference for a respiratory syncytial virus  (RSV) vaccine candidate. The vaccine is currently in Phase 2b trials in pregnant women in the United States and the Phase 1/2 data being presented at IDWeek show encouraging safety and immune response. No vaccine is currently licensed for use specifically in pregnant women to protect infants.

Philip R. Dormitzer, M.D., Ph.D., is Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer: Viral Vaccines at Pfizer Vaccines Research and Development, based in Pearl River, NY. He is a board-certified internist. After studying anthropology at Harvard College and conducting a field study of the Efe Pygmies in the Ituri Forest of Zaire, he completed his M.D. and PhD in Cancer Biology at Stanford University. Dr. Dormitzer completed house-staff training in Internal Medicine at Mass. General Hospital and a fellowship in the Harvard Combined Infectious Diseases Training Program. As an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Dormitzer led a structural virology laboratory. The Dormitzer group and collaborators determined the structures of the rotavirus neutralization antigens by NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, and near-atomic resolution electron cryomicroscopy. At Novartis, he held roles as Senior Project Leader for Viral Vaccine Research and Head of the Viral Advanced Programs Global Team, leading vaccine discovery and development programs. In 2009, he led the research component of the Novartis response to the H1N1 influenza pandemic, supporting the development of three licensed vaccines in the most rapid vaccine response in history. As Head of US Vaccines Research, he led approximately 70 scientists at the Novartis Vaccines Cambridge Research Center in their mission of discovering new vaccines, supporting vaccine development, and sustaining licensed vaccines. In 2014, he received the Novartis VIVA Leading Scientist Award for extraordinary contributions to research and development. He is now excited to start a new adventure with the Pfizer Vaccines R+D group.