New Lyme Disease Vaccine Shows Strong Results in Trial

Pfizer and Valneva's vaccine candidate LB6V proved over 70% effective in preventing Lyme disease.

Mar. 24, 2026 at 7:00pm

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A new vaccine meant to prevent Lyme disease may be one step closer to approval. Drugmaker Pfizer and French vaccine company Valneva said their vaccine, called LB6V, worked more than 70% of the time in a clinical trial to prevent Lyme disease in people ages 5 and older. The companies also said the vaccine was well tolerated, with no safety concerns identified.

Why it matters

Lyme disease is a serious illness that can lead to long-term health problems if left untreated. The lack of an approved Lyme vaccine in humans makes this new candidate an important potential breakthrough in protecting people from this tick-borne disease.

The details

The trial took longer than expected, because a pre-determined statistical target wasn't met by the initial deadline. However, the target was met in a second planned analysis, and the level of protection seen in the study was deemed meaningful by Pfizer. Based on these findings, Pfizer said it plans to move forward with submissions to regulatory authorities.

  • The trial results were announced on March 24, 2026.

The players

Pfizer

An American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation that develops and produces medicines and vaccines.

Valneva

A French vaccine company that partnered with Pfizer to develop the LB6V Lyme disease vaccine candidate.

LB6V

The Lyme disease vaccine candidate developed by Pfizer and Valneva that showed over 70% effectiveness in a clinical trial.

Thomas Lingelbach

The chief executive officer of Valneva.

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What’s next

Based on the successful trial results, Pfizer said it plans to move forward with submissions to regulatory authorities to seek approval for the LB6V Lyme disease vaccine.

The takeaway

The development of an effective Lyme disease vaccine would be a major breakthrough in protecting people from this potentially debilitating tick-borne illness, for which there is currently no approved vaccine available.