And one more success on the horizon for messenger RNA. This Tuesday, January 17, the American biotech Moderna announced that its vaccine against the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), responsible for bronchiolitis in the elderly, was effective, after “phase 3” clinical trials. Based on the same technology as the vaccines against Covid-19, the molecule developed could thus very quickly arrive on the market at the end of 2023, when the disease causes 500,000 hospitalizations and kills thousands more people. 60 years old each year, out of the 5.2 million annual cases recorded in this age group.
The company’s potential messenger RNA vaccine has thus shown nearly 84% efficacy and has been well tolerated, in a clinical trial conducted on 37,000 people aged 60 and over, in 22 countries, including the United States. . Of 64 cases of patients with the virus, presenting two or more symptoms, 55 were in the placebo group against 9 in the vaccinated group, indicates the American laboratory.
“These data are encouraging and represent the second demonstration of positive Phase 3 trial results from our mRNA vaccine platform against infectious diseases after Spikevax, our Covid-19 vaccine,” said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna, in a press release. Moderna’s results have yet to be published in the form of a scientific article, and approved by the authorities. Noted that the vaccine is also currently in phase 1 clinical trial in children who, in France, have been many to be hospitalized for this disease after an early epidemic peak.
Pioneer in the use of mRNA, this molecule, which once synthesized and transported in the body can give orders to our cells, the biotech, based in the Boston area now intends to submit its application for regulatory authorization in several regions, including Europe, by mid-2023, for potential market launch in winter 2023-24. A news that could again inflate the reputation of the company on the markets.
Already the originator of one of the first messenger RNA vaccines against Covid-19, Moderna recently demonstrated that its cancer serum is obtaining very promising results in phase 2, and is now in a very good position in the course of protection against bronchiolitis. No vaccine for the elderly is currently on the market, and the virus is causing 30,000 deaths among elderly patients in wealthy countries, according to Dr. Paul Burton, medical director of Moderna. “Mortality is considered equal to, or even higher than, the flu. It is a major public health problem”, underlines Marie-Anne Rameix-Welti, virologist at the Ambroise-Paré hospital, questioned by The Express on this disease.
Moderna is not the only laboratory to have embarked on the fight against Bronchiolitis. The European Union approved in early November a preventive treatment for bronchiolitis, jointly developed by AstraZeneca and Sanofi. Nirsevimab is not strictly speaking a vaccine but works with the same preventive intention.
The American group Pfizer for its part recently announced positive results for a trial on a vaccine – administered to the mother during pregnancy – intended to protect newborns from severe forms of bronchiolitis. Pfizer is also developing an RSV vaccine for people aged 60 and over, currently under review by US health authorities.
