The UK Government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has decided against introducing a vaccination programme for adults against invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD).

The decision not to offer the vaccine Prevenar 13 to adults in high-risk groups as a preventative measure against meningitis, septicaemia and related conditions contrasts with policy in several other countries.

The JCVI claims that as the vaccine has been available for young children in the UK since 2006, ‘herd immunity’ is emerging and so there is not enough need for adult immunisation.

However, IPD has an 18% mortality rate in adults below 65 and a 33% death rate in adults over 65, with still higher risks for those with compromised immunity, liver or kidney function.

In addition, IPD survivors frequently suffer disability due to lasting central nervous system damage.

Pfizer, the manufacturer of Prevenar 13, argues that direct vaccination is the optimal approach for conferring immunity to IPD among vulnerable adults.

“We are concerned with the decision given the severe implications IPD can have for patients,” said Dr Jonathan Jones, Medical Director, Specialty Care, Pfizer UK.

“We agree with the JCVI’s assessment that herd protection is emerging. However, unvaccinated individuals are still at risk of contracting pneumococcal disease.”

Since its approval by the EMA in November 2011, Prevenar 13 has been offered to all adults over 50 in Austria, Greece, Hungary and Lithuania.

Pfizer continued to suffer from generic exposure on its former cholesterol blockbuster Lipitor in Q1 2012 after overall sales and earnings both dropped.

Reported revenues fell 7% to $15.4bn and net income decreased by nearly a fifth (19%) after sales of Lipitor fell by almost half (42%) to just under $1.4 billion.

Ian Read, Pfizer Chairman and CEO, said he was “pleased” with the results after witnessing growth in “certain brands” and “key geographies”.

Biopharmaceutical sales decreased 8% to just over $13bn as revenue for Lipitor in the US dropped by nearly three-quarters (71%) to $383 million.

Sales of Prevenar 13 dropped by 6% to $941m, Xalatan fell by 42% to $227m with Novasc also recording a fall in revenue by 6%, compared to the same period last year.

The news was better for Lyrica up 16% to $955m, whilst Enbrel earned $899 million outside the US and Viagra generated a 6% rise in sales to earn $496m.

As a result of the losses, Pfizer has adjusted its revenue guidance for the full year from $60.5-$62.5 billion to $58-$60 billion.

Frank D’Amelio, Chief Financial Officer, said the adjustment reflects Pfizer’s recent $11.58 deal with Nestlé for its nutrition business. He commented: “We remain on-track to finalise a strategic decision for our Animal Health business this year and continue to expect that any separation of that business will occur between July 2012 and July 2013.

“Further, this quarter we continued to prudently allocate our capital by returning over $3.3 billion to our shareholders in first-quarter 2012, through $1.6 billion in dividends and $1.7 billion from the repurchase of 77 million shares.”

Pfizer looks set to adopt a new M&A strategy after CEO Ian Read ruled out any future blockbuster deals.

Mr Read said the company may favour bolt-on acquisitions and research alliances instead of the billion dollar deals it has completed in the past for Wyeth, Pharmacia and Warner-Lambert.

Speaking at the JP Morgan Global Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, he said he was “disinclined” to look at the “possibility of another mega-acquisition”.

Instead, the Chief Executive pointed towards acquisitions or licensing deals “that make sense financially”. Mr Read did not completely rule out major deals in the future but said the company has “all the science we need and we have the geographic breadth”.

He highlighted five products that will drive the growth of the company in the short term: Prevnar 13, a pneumococcal vaccine, lung cancer drug Xalkori (crizotinib), kidney cancer drug axitinib, tofacitinib for rheumatoid arthritis and, in partnership with BMS, Pfizer’s anti-clotting drug Eliquis (apixaban).

The CEO also revealed that the company had terminated more than 90 pre-proof-of-concept programmes in a move to establish a smaller and more flexible cost base. Its chief scientific offers are also “operating with increased cost transparency and accountability for a greater proportion of the total spend,” he said.

Pfizer’s Prevenar 13 (Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Conjugate Vaccine [13-valent, Adsorbed]) has been launched in the UK for active immunisation of invasive disease caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae in adults aged 50 and over.

It becomes the first and only pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to be licensed for adults aged 50 and over after gaining a new indication from the EMA.

Dr George Kassianos, GP and immunisation lead for the Royal College of GPs and the British Travel Health Association, says its introduction is an “important achievement and step forward” for adult patients.

The vaccine was first licensed for infants and young children in December 2009 in Europe and used during the UK’s Childhood Immunisation Schedule in April last year.

The new indication provides a new treatment option for the prevention of adult invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), which includes the potentially fatal bacteraemic pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia.

Chris Head, CEO of the Meningitis Research Foundation, welcomed the vaccine’s launch in the UK. “The new license for Prevenar 13 provides an opportunity to protect adults over 50, who are more at risk of serious pneumococcal disease than younger adults,” he said.

Until Prevenar 13’s new indication, adults over 65 and those in clinical risk groups were treated with the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine. But in clinical trials, patients given Prevenar 13 had significantly higher antibody responses with the vaccine expected to protect against seven out of the most ten most comment serotypes which causes IPD.