Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE have 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), a debilitating, disfiguring and painful disease that impacts about one in three people in the United States during their lifetime.

The collaboration builds on the companies’ success in developing the first approved and most widely used mRNA vaccine to help prevent COVID-19.

This is 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.

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will leverage a proprietary antigen technology identified by Pfizer’s scientists and BioNTech's proprietary mRNA platform technology used in the companies’ COVID-19 vaccine. The parties will share development costs.

Clinical trials are planned to start in the second half of 2022. Pfizer will have rights to commercialize the potential vaccine on a global basis, with the exception of Germany, Turkey and certain developing countries where BioNTech will have commercialization rights. The companies will share gross profits from commercialization of any product.