The European Commission announced, on Tuesday 6 June, that it had authorised Arexvy, the first vaccine designed to protect adults aged 60 and over against lower respiratory tract disease caused by the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
The Arexvy vaccine, which is now authorised throughout the EU, will help strengthen the immune response to the virus. The authorisation follows a rigorous assessment under the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) accelerated assessment mechanism. Considering that the prevention of RSV infection in the elderly population is of major public health interest, the Commission accelerated the authorisation of the vaccine.
The Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides, said she hoped the vaccine would prevent some of the problems encountered last winter. “I now encourage Member States to quickly build on this authorisation and define national vaccination strategies so that those most at risk can access them in the coming months ahead of the next autumn season”, said the Commissioner.
On 31 October 2022, the Commission had already authorised the monoclonal antibody Beyfortus (nirsevimab) in the EU for the prevention of lower respiratory tract disease in newborns and infants during their first RSV season (i.e. when there is a higher risk of RSV infection). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)