American biotech reported positive phase 3 results for its messenger RNA vaccine against bronchiolitis in the elderly.
by Zeliha Chaffin
“The covid was a great accelerator to demonstrate the power of the messenger RNA, but we are not just a covid biotech”, confided to the world Stéphane Bancel, the patron of Moderna, passing through Paris in November 2022. The results announced Tuesday January 17 by the Biotech seem to be demonstrating this.
The pharmaceutical laboratory, installed in the Boston region, and one of the pioneers in the world of messenger RNA, announced positive results for its phase 3 trial on the syncytial respiratory virus (VRS), manager especially bronchiolitis in the elderly. According to data from this trial, conducted in double blind in 22 countries out of 37,000 people over the age of 60, the Biotech messenger RNA vaccine has shown an efficiency of almost 84 % against lower respiratory tract infections caused by the virus.
“We have clearly shown the effectiveness of our platform for the COVVI. These results are new proof of the usefulness of messenger RNA as therapeutic option for patients. We only work on the VRS since A few years. But the messenger RNA allows us to go faster, while proceeding in a careful and thoughtful way, “observes Paul Burton, the medical director of Moderna.
The syncytial respiratory virus, which binds to cells lining the respiratory tract and kills them, leads to inflammation originally from bronchiolitis or pneumonia. The vaccine developed by Moderna uses messenger RNA, encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles identical to those used for its COVVI-19 vaccine, to make the protein that will allow the immune system to trigger an answer against the virus, and therefore Protect the patient.
great ambitions
Discovered in the mid -1950s, the VRS was best known for bronchiolitis, of which it is at the origin each year in millions of infants in the world. But it also strongly rages in the elderly. “In the G7 countries alone, it is estimated that around five million people over the age of 60 are affected each year. Among them, 500,000 are hospitalized because of the virus and around 30,000 dies,” notes Mr. Burton. Despite the research carried out for several decades, no vaccine is however marketed to date.
The progress made in recent years are, however, about to remedy it. Building on its results, Moderna plans to subject, “probably in the spring”, a request for marketing authorization to the health authorities in several regions, including in the United States and Europe. Subject to them to judge the data sufficiently solid and sufficient, the Bronchiolitis vaccine of American biotech could be available for the elderly during the next winter season, “at the end of 2023 or early 2024”, hopes Paul Burton.
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