The development of the Lyme vaccine began in the early 1990s with a race between two companies, SmithKline Beecham and Pasteur Mérieux Connaught. Both companies focused on the most common outer surface protein, OspA, as a target for their vaccine. LYMErix™ emerged as the winner, showing a 76% reduction in Lyme disease in a phase III clinical trial. However, the vaccine was taken off the market only three years later due to negative media coverage, vaccine side-effect fears, and declining sales.

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