On Jan. 5, 2022, Pfizer and BioNTech announced a new research, development and commercialization collaboration to develop a potential first mRNA-based vaccine for the prevention of shingles (herpes zoster virus, or HZV).

The collaboration builds on the companies’ success in developing the first approved and most widely used mRNA vaccine to help prevent COVID-19. This was the third collaboration between Pfizer and BioNTech in the infectious diseases field, following the influenza vaccine collaboration initiated in 2018 and the COVID-19 vaccine collaboration initiated in 2020.