MHRA approves Sanofi Pasteur MSD’s four-strain influenza vaccine for UK use
pharmafile | July 25, 2016 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | MHRA, Sanofi pasteur msd, UK, Vaccine, flu, influenza
Sanofi Pasteur MSD has announced the approval of the latest addition to its family of influenza vaccines in the UK: the quadrivalent influenza vaccine (split virion, inactivated). The vaccine contains two A strains (A/H1N1 and A/H3N2) and two B strains (B/Victoria and B/Yamagata) of the influenza virus and is licensed to be used from 36 months of age.
The vaccine is a step forward beyond the trivalent influenza vaccines prevalent in the UK which only protect against a single B strain alongside two A strains, helping to tackle the emerging issue of the two distinct B-lineages of the virus co-circulating across the globe.
Throughout the 2015/2016 flu season in the UK, 94% of the reported 462 influenza B cases belonged to the B/Victoria lineage of the virus, which was not covered by trivalent vaccines recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The new quadrivalent vaccine can help diminish the effects of mismatched vaccines and disease-causing strains, leading to a broader protection against the virus.
The 2016 journal Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics has estimated that approximately 227,790 influenza cases could have been avoided in the UK over the past decade were quadrivalant vaccines utilised as opposed to trivalent ones.
Dr Alex Dos Santos, medical director at Sanofi Pasteur commented: “Quadrivalent influenza vaccines can help enable UK healthcare professionals to offer wider protection against both commonly circulating B strains. Prevention of influenza is a public health priority for the UK. We, at Sanofi Pasteur MSD are proud to continue supporting vaccination with the development of this new vaccine, which will be available for use for the 2017/18 flu season.”
Matt Fellows
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