Britain’s drugs regulator has today approved an mRNA vaccine to protect the over 60s against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Results of the treatment, developed by US pharmaceutical giant Moderna, found it drastically slashed the risk of severe illness from the common viral infection.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it was ‘assured’ that the jab, branded as mRESVIA, had met the ‘appropriate regulatory standards’.
It uses the same technology as mRNA Covid vaccines and is also administered as an intramuscular injection — into the muscle.
RSV is a bug that causes coughs and colds in most people, but can be potentially deadly for the elderly as well as young babies.
Spread by coughs and sneezes, it hospitalises about 30,000 children and 18,000 adults in the UK every year, due to serious breathing complications like pneumonia and lung infections.
Around 100 children die from the virus each winter.
It’s also estimated to contribute to the deaths of 8,000 adults over the same period due to the increased strain the infection puts on patient’s hearts, causing the organ to fail.
Results of the treatment, developed by US pharmaceutical giant Moderna, found it drastically slashed the risk of severe illness from the common respiratory virus
RSV is a bug that causes coughs and colds in most people, but can be potentially deadly for the elderly as well as young babies
Older adults are at risk of more serious complications that could lead to hospital admission and even death.
Julian Beach, MHRA interim executive director of healthcare quality and access, said: ‘Keeping patients safe and enabling their access to high quality, safe and effective medical products are key priorities for us.
‘We’re assured that the appropriate regulatory standards for the approval of this medicine have been met.
‘As with all products, we will keep its safety under close review.’
While the science dates back to 2005, the first vaccines to use the mRNA technology were those made by BioNTech and Moderna against the Covid virus.
Before they were rolled out to millions of people worldwide to protect them against Covid, such technology was considered experimental.
Researchers are now exploring if it could help beat cancer and other diseases.
Messenger RNA, or mRNA, is a genetic blueprint that instructs cells to manufacture proteins in the body.
The MHRA’s national approval today follows a study in over 35,000 adults, all aged 60 and over, that found those who received the jab were 79 per cent less likely to get lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV, compared with those who received placebo
Unlike other traditional vaccines, a live or attenuated virus is not injected or required at any point.
For Covid, the mRNA vaccine instructed cells to make the spike protein found on the surface of the virus itself.
These harmless proteins ‘train’ the immune system to recognise the virus and then to make cells that fight it if someone later gets infected with the real thing.
The new mRESVIA vaccine works by producing antibodies which help protect against lung diseases caused by RSV.
The MHRA’s national approval today follows a study in over 35,000 adults, all aged 60 and over, that found those who received the jab were 79 per cent less likely to get lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV, compared with those who received placebo.
Side effects of the jab affect around 1 in 10 people, the MHRA noted.
These commonly include swelling or tenderness in the underarm, headache, muscle ache, joint aches, pain at the injection site, tiredness, and chills.
Trials of the jab have also not identified any serious safety concerns.
mRESVIA joins another RSV vaccine Abrysvo, made by Pfizer, which is already offered to adults aged 75 to 79 in the UK to help protect them against serious respiratory infections.
Pregnant women past 28 weeks are also advised to get the jab as it passes on protective anti-RSV antibodies to newborn children.
The latest data shows that as of December, nearly half of eligible older adults in England took up the offer of an RSV vaccine.
