COVID-19 Vaccine Generates Immune Response in Adolescents

A new Phase II clinical trial that included 240 adolescents between 12 and 17 years of age in Spain has shown that HIPRA’s COVID-19 vaccine, BIMERVAX, administered as a booster dose after two previous doses with Comirnaty (Pfizer/BNTech), induces a broad immune response against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants in adolescents. Previously, the data available in adolescents were limited.

In the study, researchers analyzed the neutralizing antibodies generated against Omicron, as well as against other more ancestral variants of the virus, and compared the results with those previously obtained in adults who had received the same booster dose. The adolescents developed an immune response comparable to that observed in adults –— and even higher in some parameters — reaching the criteria established to consider the response to the vaccine adequate in this population. In addition, the neutralizing response extended to more recent Omicron variants such as XBB.1.5 and XBB.1.16.

The scientific team followed the participants for a year to study how long the immune response was maintained. Although antibody levels progressively decreased, which is normal, they remained above the values prior to the booster dose throughout the study period. In addition, the study showed a favorable long-term safety and tolerability profile.

“In the adolescent population, it is especially important to have specific data on both the immune response and the safety and tolerability of vaccines. These results provide relevant information for families and contribute to expanding the available evidence on vaccination in this population,” says study co-leader Pere Soler-Palacín, MD, PhD, head of the Paediatrics Service at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital and of the Infection and Immunity in Paediatric Patients group at VHIR.