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CNBC
01-07-2025
- Health
- CNBC
Healthy Returns: What to know about a CDC vaccine panel's votes against a mercury preservative in flu shots
A revamped government panel of vaccine advisors with newly appointed immunization skeptics has voted against a mercury-containing shot ingredient that the anti-vaccine movement has long targeted. The group, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, voted Thursday to recommend annual single-dose flu vaccines to Americans and against influenza shots containing thimerosal – even though there is no evidence of harm from that preservative. It was the first ACIP meeting since Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gutted the panel and stacked it with new members, including several well-known vaccine skeptics. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still needs to sign off on that recommendation. If the agency does, it would affect roughly 4% to 5% of the U.S. flu vaccine supply. The rest of the nation's flu shots were thimerosal-free during the last season of the virus, according to CDC data. But when it comes to vaccinating an entire country, "small percentages matter," Dr. Sean O'Leary, an infectious disease expert with the American Academy of Pediatrics, told reporters last week. If the few thimerosal-containing flu shots were removed from the market, "that would inevitably lead to fewer people being vaccinated, at least in the short term, perhaps longer term, and subsequently more hospitalizations and deaths," O'Leary said. The recommendation also reinforces longstanding, unfounded fears that the substance can lead to developmental disabilities, such as autism. Kennedy's vaccine skepticism comes full circle with the panel's vote: A decade before stepping into his current role, he published a book that called for the removal of thimerosal from shots and linked it to developmental disorders. "A very common anti-vaccine talking point is around thimerosal, so that's a very clear strategy to sow distrust in vaccines," O'Leary said. Here's why thimerosal is important. It has been widely used for decades as a preservative to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria in several medicines and vaccines with multiple doses. More than 40 studies over many decades have found no link between thimerosal and developmental delays. But its use in approved vaccines has dropped sharply as manufacturers have shifted to single-dose packaging for their shots, which doesn't require preservatives. The Food and Drug Administration around 25 years ago asked manufacturers to remove the substance from childhood vaccines out of an abundance of caution, not because of evidence of harm, according to the CDC. "The thought was, well, mercury is a scary sounding word, and let's just get it out, let's just make this a non-issue," O'Learly said. He added that "many studies have shown that it is entirely safe, is not associated with any neurodevelopmental disorders or any other adverse effects." Some multi-dose forms of flu vaccines for adults still contain thimerosal, including Sanofi's Fluzone and two shots from biotech company CSL Seqirus. One member of the panel, Dr. Cody Meissner, a professor of pediatrics at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, said he was worried that discouraging the use of multidose vials could increase the cost of vaccination and limit access for some groups. He also expressed concerns about the message the recommendation would send to other countries where the use of multi-dose flu vaccines is more common. "That might limit the availability of the influenza vaccine for some people," he said during the meeting after he voted against restricting thimerosal flu vaccines. Before the votes at the meeting, Lyn Redwood, a nurse practitioner who has been involved with anti-vaccine organizations, presented on thimerosal in flu vaccines. Redwood is among the "mercury moms" who pushed for Kennedy to get involved with mercury and children's health. She has also served for years as president of Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine organization founded by Kennedy. Feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Annika at Health-care data platform Arcadia has been acquired by the private equity firm Nordic Capital, the companies announced on Tuesday. Arcadia turns health-care data into predictive insights that payers and providers can use to help improve care for patients, reduce costs and increase revenue. The company characterized the deal with Nordic Capital as a "strategic partnership" where the firm will become the "majority owner" of Arcadia, according to a release. Michael Meucci, Arcadia's CEO, said working with Nordic Capital will allow Arcadia to continue to improve its customer experience, expand on its artificial intelligence capabilities, explore new M&A opportunities and drive growth in its core segments, including value-based care. "It's hugely validating," Meucci told CNBC in an interview. "It's validating that there are large-cap institutional investors who are as committed to transforming us (U.S.?) health care and global health care as we have been." Arcadia and Nordic Capital did not disclose the terms of the acquisition. The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year, though it's still subject to regulatory approvals. Meucci said he's known the Nordic Capital team for a couple years, and that the firm had been watching Arcadia's progress as a business. Arcadia is profitable and carried out a successful acquisition last year. Meucci said these milestones helped Nordic Capital feel confident that the company was ready for its next stage of growth. Arcadia last raised outside funding in 2023, when it announced $125 million in financing from Vista Credit Partners. Nordic Capital's acquisition serves as an exit for earlier investors, Arcadia said. "This partnership aligns seamlessly with Nordic Capital's investment strategy and Nordic Capital is excited to support Arcadia in its next phase of growth," Daniel Berglund, partner and co-head of health care at Nordic Capital, said in a statement. TripleTree served as Nordic Capital's financial advisor for the transaction, and Lazard advised Arcadia. "This is just a further reinforcement of our mission, that we have to change the cost of health care," Meucci said. Read the full release here. Feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Ashley at
CNBC
18-06-2025
- Health
- CNBC
RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisors will vote on flu shots containing mercury
A key, revamped government panel of vaccine advisors appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will soon vote on a shot preservative that contains mercury, which is safely used in some flu jabs but has been incorrectly linked to autism in the past. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, will hear a presentation about the preservative, called thimerosal, at a planned meeting on June 26. The panel will also vote on "thimerosal-containing vaccine" recommendations, according to a draft agenda for the two-day meeting posted on Wednesday. It is the panel's first meeting with Kennedy's newly appointed members, many of whom are well-known vaccine critics. He named the eight advisors last week after firing the previous 17 members of the committee, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine policy. It is unclear what will be discussed in the presentation or what exactly the panel will vote on. Thimerosal has been widely used for decades as a preservative to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria in several medicines and vaccines with multiple doses. But its use in approved vaccines has dropped sharply as manufacturers have shifted to single-dose packaging for their shots, which don't require preservatives. Some multi-dose forms of flu vaccines for adults still contain thimerosal, including Sanofi's Fluzone and two shots from biotech company CSL Seqirus. All vaccines routinely recommended for children 6 years of age and younger in the U.S. are available in formulations that do not contain thimerosal, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA and other health bodies have emphasized that many well-conducted scientific studies have found no link between thimerosal and autism, despite unfounded concerns decades ago about a potential connection. "The scientific evidence collected over the past 20+ years does not show any evidence of harm, including serious neurodevelopmental disorders, from use of thimerosal in vaccines," the FDA said on its website. The new ACIP members will play a significant role in shaping immunization policy in the U.S., as the panel reviews vaccine data and makes recommendations that determine who is eligible for shots and whether insurers should cover them, among other efforts. The committee is also slated to review data and vote on other vaccines, including shots for Covid and RSV during the two-day meeting.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Moderna's combo Covid and flu mRNA shot outperforms current vaccines in large trial
Moderna's combined Covid and flu shot outperformed the existing standalone vaccines for both viruses, according to the results of a phase 3 clinical trial published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The vaccine uses the same messenger RNA technology as Moderna's approved Covid vaccine. (There are no approved mRNA-based flu shots.) The trial, funded by Moderna, included more than 8,000 adults ages 50 and older who were enrolled in October and November 2023. For people ages 50 to 64, the new vaccine was compared to Moderna's Covid vaccine and the flu shot Fluarix. For people 65 and older, it was compared to the Covid vaccine and a different flu shot, called Fluzone, which is a stronger dose typically given to older adults. The trial participants either got the existing shots, or the new combination vaccine plus a placebo shot. (This way, both groups got two injections.) The main goal of the trial was to see whether the combination vaccine generated more antibodies in blood samples than the current shots against multiple strains of influenza and the XBB.1.5 Covid variant. This so-called serological testing is a common way for researchers to gauge how well a vaccine shot might work and how long the protection might last. The trial found that antibody levels were higher for Covid and all but one influenza strain in people who got the combination vaccine, compared to those who got the existing shots in both groups. Dr. Buddy Creech, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, said the antibody levels generated by the new vaccine were about 20% to 40% higher. Dr. Jesse Goodman, a professor of medicine and infectious disease at Georgetown University and former chief scientist at the Food and Drug Administration, said the trial results are a good sign that the combination shot will provide protection against both Covid and the flu. 'We know that antibody responses generally correlates with a degree of protection,' Goodman said. 'This is very promising and it suggests this vaccine should have similar or higher levels of protection to traditional flu vaccines.' Side effects such as fever and chills were more common in people who got the new vaccine. Creech attributed that to how the body is responding to the vaccine. 'Immunologically, what's happening in each cell is they're acting as if they've been infected with both viruses, and so your immune system is going to respond and make the type of inflammation that you would if you had flu or Covid or both simultaneously,' he said. A combination shot would make it easier for people to get vaccinated against both Covid and the flu, especially since both shots usually come out in the fall. A new shot that provides better protection is needed, experts say, because the existing vaccines don't do a good job at stopping infections. The data is expected to be used to support Moderna's application to the FDA for approval. Last week, Moderna said it doesn't expect regulatory approval for its combination shot until 2026, after the agency said it required late-stage data showing the shot's efficacy against the flu. It's unclear whether the agency's new rule that all new vaccines will need to undergo placebo-controlled clinical trials to gain approval will apply to the combination shot. The FDA already delayed Novavax's Covid vaccine, requiring an additional clinical trial, and may impose the requirement for Pfizer's and Moderna's updated Covid vaccines for the fall. A Moderna spokesperson declined to comment. An HHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, noted that mRNA vaccines are a particular target among anti-vaccine activists, and several states have introduced legislation that would ban them. 'One of the things I'm concerned about, at least for the United States, is all the anti-vaccine sentiment, and this specific targeting of the mRNA vaccine platform by anti-vaccine activists,' he said. Hotez said Moderna's combination shot would be 'a potentially very useful advance,' as it would only require people to take one shot for two respiratory virsuses. 'If this works, you could also use it for adding RSV or as well as other pathogens,' he said. Goodman, of Georgetown University, said an mRNA-based shot that also targets the flu could help the U.S. respond more quickly if there were a pandemic caused by influenza. The current flu shots primarily rely on growing strains the of the virus in eggs, which is slower to make compared to the mRNA vaccines. This article was originally published on
NBC News
07-05-2025
- Health
- NBC News
Moderna's combo Covid and flu mRNA shot outperforms current vaccines in large trial
Moderna's combined Covid and flu shot outperformed the existing standalone vaccines for both viruses, according to the results of a phase 3 clinical trial published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The vaccine uses the same messenger RNA technology as Moderna's approved Covid vaccine. (There are no approved mRNA-based flu shots.) The trial, funded by Moderna, included more than 8,000 adults ages 50 and older who were enrolled in October and November 2023. For people ages 50 to 64, the new vaccine was compared to Moderna's Covid vaccine and the flu shot Fluarix. For people 65 and older, it was compared to the Covid vaccine and a different flu shot, called Fluzone, which is a stronger dose typically given to older adults. The trial participants either got the existing shots, or the new combination vaccine plus a placebo shot. (This way, both groups got two injections.) The main goal of the trial was to see whether the combination vaccine generated more antibodies in blood samples than the current shots against multiple strains of influenza and th e XBB.1.5 Covid variant. This so-called serological testing is a common way for researchers to gauge how well a vaccine shot might work and how long the protection might last. The trial found that antibody levels were higher for Covid and all but one influenza strain in people who got the combination vaccine, compared to those who got the existing shots in both groups. Dr. Buddy Creech, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, said the antibody levels generated by the new vaccine were about 20% to 40% higher. Dr. Jesse Goodman, a professor of medicine and infectious disease at Georgetown University and former chief scientist at the Food and Drug Administration, said the trial results are a good sign that the combination shot will provide protection against both Covid and the flu. 'We know that antibody responses generally correlates with a degree of protection,' Goodman said. 'This is very promising and it suggests this vaccine should have similar or higher levels of protection to traditional flu vaccines.' Side effects such as fever and chills were more common in people who got the new vaccine. Creech attributed that to how the body is responding to the vaccine. 'Immunologically, what's happening in each cell is they're acting as if they've been infected with both viruses, and so your immune system is going to respond and make the type of inflammation that you would if you had flu or Covid or both simultaneously,' he said. A combination shot would make it easier for people to get vaccinated against both Covid and the flu, especially since both shots usually come out in the fall. A new shot that provides better protection is needed, experts say, because the existing vaccines don't do a good job at stopping infections. The data is expected to be used to support Moderna's application to the FDA for approval. Last week, Moderna said it doesn't expect regulatory approval for its combination shot until 2026, after the agency said it required late-stage data showing the shot's efficacy against the flu. It's unclear whether the agency's new rule that all new vaccines will need to undergo placebo-controlled clinical trials to gain approval will apply to the combination shot. The FDA al ready delayed Novavax 's Covid vaccine, requiring an additional clinical trial, and may impose the requirement for Pfizer's and Moderna's updated Covid vaccines for the fall. A Moderna spokesperson declined to comment. An HHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, noted that mRNA vaccines are a particular target among anti-vaccine activists, and several states have introduced legislation that would ban them. 'One of the things I'm concerned about, at least for the United States, is all the anti-vaccine sentiment, and this specific targeting of the mRNA vaccine platform by anti-vaccine activists,' he said. Hotez said Moderna's combination shot would be 'a potentially very useful advance,' as it would only require people to take one shot for two respiratory virsuses. 'If this works, you could also use it for adding RSV or as well as other pathogens,' he said. Goodman, of Georgetown University, said an mRNA-based shot that also targets the flu could help the U.S. respond more quickly if there were a pandemic caused by influenza. The current flu shots primarily rely on growing strains the of the virus in eggs, which is slower to make compared to the mRNA vaccines.
