The pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech want to develop a vaccine against shingles or zona, a painful skin condition. This vaccine would then be the first to be based on mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) technology, which is also used in the corona vaccine of both companies. The clinical studies will start in the second half of the year.
Shingles or herpes zoster is caused by a virus. In children, this is responsible for chickenpox, but because it is often present in nerve cells for life, it can cause shingles later in life. Typical features are a burning pain, followed by a ribbon-shaped spread of blisters on the skin. Even after the rash has healed, the nerve pain can persist for a long time.
There are already several vaccines against zona, two have already been approved in Europe (Shingix and Zostravax). The vaccine that Pfizer and BioNTech want to develop uses the innovative mRNA technology. Both companies will share development costs, and possibly subsequent profits.
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