On Oct. 20, 2020, Merck announced findings from two additional Phase 3 studies evaluating the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of V114, the companyﾒs investigational 15-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. In the PNEU-PATH (V114-016) study, healthy adults 50 years of age or older received V114 or PCV13 followed by PNEUMOVAXﾮ 23 one year later.

Immune responses following vaccination with PNEUMOVAX 23 (month 13) were comparable in both vaccination groups for the 15 serotypes in V114. Results also showed that at 30 days post vaccination with either V114 or PCV13 (day 30), immune responses were comparable for both groups across the 13 serotypes shared by the conjugate vaccines and higher in the V114 group for serotypes 22F and 33F, the two serotypes not included in PCV13.