Drugmaker GSK said on Tuesday that it will move its mRNA seasonal flu vaccine candidate into Phase III after reporting positive Phase II results at the OPTIONS XIII influenza conference.<\/p>\n
GSK said the candidate generated higher immune responses across all tested strains than both standard\u2011dose and high\u2011dose inactivated flu vaccines in younger and older adults, and was generally well tolerated.<\/p>\n
The Phase III study, due to begin in September, will be the first late\u2011stage trial of an mRNA flu vaccine designed to target both haemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) – the two key surface antigens that help the virus bind and spread.<\/p>\n
Licensed flu vaccines primarily target HA, but GSK said growing evidence suggests adding NA could improve protection, reduce illness severity and help curb transmission.<\/p>\n
Sanjay Gurunathan, GSK’s head of vaccines and infectious diseases R&D, said: “These promising data support the potential to better protect people from flu with a vaccine designed to target both HA and NA. With one billion flu cases worldwide each year and up to 650,000 deaths there is a need for next generation vaccine approaches. This result is a significant advance in our cutting-edge mRNA programme, and we look forward to starting phase III imminently.”<\/p>\n
As of 1100 BST, GSK shares were down 0.27% at 1,848.50p.<\/p>\n
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com<\/p>\n