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Vaccines and Antivirals Areas of Interest

IMPORTANT: Pfizer has implemented application windows for unsolicited requests. Please click hereextlink label to view the Application and Batched Review Cycles.

Qualified researchers are invited to submit research proposals, according to the guidance and instructions found on www.pfizer.com/ISR. A proposal requesting Pfizer support (e.g., funding and/or drug supply) is not a guarantee of acceptance or approval of that proposal. Decisions on support for submissions are made by the applicable Pfizer Global Reviewers. A formal notification regarding the status of your application will be sent once a decision is reached. Pfizer support will only be extended upon the execution of a research agreement. For any questions, please send an email to ExternalResearch&Grants@pfizer.com(link sends email).

  • In scope

    • Epidemiological studies that describe Covid burden (e.g., acute illness, under-diagnosis and testing, risk of hospitalization or death by subgroup, secondary bacterial or co-infections, long-term symptoms or sequalae)
    • Epidemiological studies describing risk factors (sociodemographic or clinical) for severe illness including evaluations in special populations (e.g., pregnant women)
    • Studies evaluating patient characteristics (non-biomarker) associated with the development of long Covid in adults and children
    • Studies evaluating the transmissibility or severity of new variants or sub-lineages
    • Socio-behavioral studies that identify predictors of improving vaccine uptake (including healthcare communication and systems-level approaches), particularly in underserved or pediatric populations
    • Studies that describe antiviral prescribing patterns including reasons for patient refusal, barriers to access or timely treatment, prescriber behavior and perceptions, and patient adherence to treatment
    • Studies that evaluate interventions designed to improve time-to-treatment (including evaluation and management of drug-drug interactions) for antiviral therapy


    Out of scope

    • Basic research (clinical or non-clinical) including evaluations of biomarkers
    • Safety evaluations (includes studies of antiviral resistance or rebound) or studies of drug-drug interactions
    • Immunogenicity studies
    • Vaccine or treatment effectiveness studies (including comparative effectiveness)
    • Studies evaluating heterologous vaccine schedules or combination of therapies
    • Pfizer is unable to provide COVID-19 vaccine as part of a grant
  • Research areas to be considered for Pfizer support include:

    1. Epidemiology
      1. Clinical disease burden in different:
        1. age cohorts (e.g., adolescents, infants)
        2. settings (e.g., universities, military, mass gathering, travelers)
        3. clinical condition or patient population (e.g., individuals at increased risk of meningococcal disease)
      2. Nasopharyngeal carriage in different age cohorts and settings (examples above)
      3. Disease isolates characterization – genetic characterization, diversity and evolution, across geographic regions and time periods
      4. Understand incidence trends retrospectively and prospectively
    2. Disease impact – individual and community
      1. Short and long-term clinical consequences, complications
      2. Direct and indirect costs and quality of life, social and psychological parameters
    3. Vaccine impact - in particular age cohort, setting or patient population
      1. Vaccine effectiveness
      2. Vaccine impact on carriage dynamics – prevalence, transmission, acquisition
      3. Vaccination program impact on disease evolution and health economics
      4. Broader societal value of implementing meningococcal vaccination program
    4. Implementation of vaccination programs or guidelines
      1. Knowledge/awareness, attitudes/perceptions & behaviors/practices
      2. Vaccination preferences
      3. Barriers and potential solutions including potential vaccine platforms
  • Research areas to be considered for funding include:

    1. Studies evaluating the burden of pneumococcal disease and serotype distribution in children or adults or risk groups before, during, or following the implementation of PCV immunization programs, based on one or more of the following presentations:
      • Primary outcomes, including but not limited to
        • Lower respiratory tract infection, including pneumococcal pneumonia and all-cause pneumonia outcomes
        • Invasive Pneumococcal Disease (IPD)
        • Otitis Media in children
      • Secondary outcomes such as exacerbations of chronic underlying medical conditions or long-term sequelae or post hospitalization mortality over the long-term
      • Relationship between serotype distribution by syndrome or carriage (IPD, pneumonia, OM, NPC)
      • Humanistic burden, such as patient-reported outcome measures and quality of life
      • Mechanisms driving changes in serotypes causing disease following PCV introduction.
      • Other outcomes not captured above that may be modified by the introduction of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines
      • Documentation of PCV impact on pneumococcal disease a population level following vaccine introduction
    2. Pneumococcal carriage in children or adults prior to, or following, the implementation of PCV immunization programs
      • Carriage prevalence, acquisition, duration or density that use adequate and current methodologies
      • Exploration of novel methods to more accurately describe the carriage burden.
      • Serotype distribution in carriage
      • Pneumococcal carriage in risk groups
      • Documentation of PCV impact on pneumococcal carriage a population level following vaccine introduction
    3. Association between pneumococcal infection or disease and respiratory viral illnesses such as those due to influenza, RSV, or SARS CoV2 in children or adults
      • The impact of respiratory virus on subsequent pneumococcal disease immunity and risk of respiratory infection
      • Interaction between pneumococcal carriage / pneumococcal disease and respiratory viral disease viral or pneumococcal disease outcomes
      • Impact of respiratory virus pandemics and associated non-pharmacologic interventions on pneumococcal disease epidemiology.
    4. Translational research on the molecular epidemiology of pneumococcal disease or carriage and disease pathogenesis
      • Genomic pneumococcal epidemiology and mechanisms of pneumococcal disease pathogenesis
      • Serotype or risk group impact on the above
      • Novel laboratory evaluations to support pneumococcal research
    5. Studies that assess implementation of vaccine programs
      • Strategies to improve vaccine access and uptake with focus the reduction of on equity
      • Understanding factors that impact vaccine uptake


    Research areas not funded

    • Studies on vaccine efficacy, effectiveness or immunogenicity
    • Studies evaluating the serotype distribution in community-acquired pneumonia using Pfizer’s urinary antigen detection test
    • Evaluations of competitor pneumococcal vaccines in isolation
  • Adult (non-pregnant)

    IN SCOPE

    • Increase understanding of burden of disease of RSV in adults considered at high risk for RSV disease due to advanced age or chronic medical conditions (for example, chronic cardiopulmonary disease, immunocompromised individuals, frail/long-term care/nursing home residents)
    • Identify new risk factors that increase risk of severe RSV disease and describe their impact on disease burden
    • Studies adding new information on previously identified risk factors for severe RSV disease and their impact on disease burden
    • Studies describing/documenting complications and long-term sequela of RSV disease using appropriate control groups
    • The role of RSV in non-respiratory diseases (such as cardiac disease, thromboembolic events, functional outcomes)
    • Studies evaluating the sensitivity of RSV testing approaches/sampling
    • Studies on strategies to improve RSV vaccine implementation and uptake in adults
    • Increase understanding of immune response to RSV infection in adults considered at high risk for RSV disease due to chronic medical conditions and in older adults

    OUT OF SCOPE

    • Interventional, safety, effectiveness, or immunogenicity studies related to vaccine use
    • Incidence studies (although collaborative research proposals can be considered)
    • Any studies that do not fit at least one of the in-scope criteria listed above

    Maternal Immunization

    IN SCOPE

    Disease burden in infants/children

    • RSV burden of disease in infants by month of age in the first year of life
    • RSV burden of disease in children from 12 months through 5 years of age
    • RSV burden of disease in children 5 to 18 years of age including children with high-risk conditions
    • Descriptive epidemiology of short, medium and long-term sequelae of RSV infection (e.g., otitis media, wheeze, asthma) from birth through age 5 years
    • RSV serostatus in children from 2 through 5 years of age in the post-COVID era
    • Descriptive epidemiology of all-cause respiratory illness in infants and children (including inpatient, outpatient, URI and LRTI) including detection of RSV and other viral and bacterial pathogens and codetections; data on HMPV and PIV1-4 are of particular interest
    • Descriptive epidemiology of RSV transmission within households, especially between maternal (pregnant or postpartum) individuals and their infants & children [data on transmission to older adults (e.g., grandparents) also of interest]
    • Association of pediatric RSV burden with indicators of equity (socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, household characteristics, and geography)

    RSV Burden Among Pregnant and Postpartum People

    • Descriptive epidemiology of acute respiratory illness (medically attended and not medically attended) and detection of RSV among women of childbearing age, including during pregnancy and the first year postpartum, as well as RSV testing rates/patterns
    • Maternal RSV infection during pregnancy associated with perinatal outcomes among individuals not vaccinated with RSVpreF
    • Association of RSV burden with indicators of equity (socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, household characteristics, and geography) among women of childbearing age, including during pregnancy and the first year postpartum

    Maternal immunization – awareness, uptake, access, policy

    • Acceptability and uptake of immunization during pregnancy including facilitators and barriers
    • Ways to optimize equitable delivery of immunization to pregnant individuals, including quality metrics (healthcare system strengthening)
    • Improving vaccine access for pregnant individuals, including addressing barriers for vaccine access
    • Maternal immunization schedules and timing/patterns of administrations and coadministrations relative to prenatal care schedules
    • Temporal alignment between maternal RSV vaccine seasonal recommendations and RSV seasonality
    • Association of RSV maternal immunization with indicators of equity (socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, household characteristics, and geography)
    • Descriptive data on number and timing of births per person including interpregnancy intervals to help inform revaccination policy. In settings where revaccination in subsequent pregnancies is recommended, uptake of RSVpreF vaccine across subsequent pregnancies

    Benefits of breastfeeding among individuals not vaccinated with RSVpreF

    • Relationship between breastfeeding status/patterns and the frequency and severity of RSV-associated acute respiratory infection among infants from birth through 12 months of age among individuals not vaccinated with RSVpreF in pregnancy (e.g., benefits of naturally acquired RSV antibodies and/or breastfeeding in general)
    • Relationship between breastfeeding status/patterns on hospital admission rates, length of stay, invasive or non-invasive mechanical ventilation or need for supplemental oxygen, antibiotic usage and acute otitis media among infants from birth through 12 months of age.

    OUT OF SCOPE

    • Vaccine effectiveness
    • Safety studies
    • Immunogenicity
  • Research areas to be considered for Pfizer support include:

    Identification of new TBE-endemic areas, virus-epidemiology

    • Tick surveillance, reservoir animals, human infection, human disease

    Explore Burden of Disease:

    • Characterization of the clinical course or the natural course after infection
    • Diagnostics (e.g., adherence to guidelines, improvement of diagnostics, etc.)
    • Disease and sequelae in children and adults

    New vaccination targets:

    • TBE in travelers
    • TBE in other exposed subjects (i.e., children, elderly, occupation related)