Janssen, owned by Johnson & Johnson, has announced that its investigational respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine candidate is highly efficacious in protecting against lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV.
In study results presented at the virtual IDWeek 2021 conference, the vaccine candidate showed efficacy of 80% in adults aged 65 and older.
“The findings from our CYPRESS study are very encouraging as we seek to deliver a long awaited preventive vaccine to stave off the severe complications associated with RSV in adults,” said Penny Heaton, Global Therapeutic Area Head, Vaccines, Janssen Research & Development.
“Respiratory syncytial virus is a leading cause of bronchitis and pneumonia and one of the most common infections in the world. As older adults are at high risk of developing serious, potentially life-threatening illness from RSV, there is an urgent need for a vaccine to prevent the significant morbidity and mortality caused by the virus,” she added.
The vaccine also showed efficacy of 70% against any symptomatic RSV-associated acute respiratory infection, with participants showing a substantial increase in RSV neutralising antibodies 14 days after vaccination.
“RSV remains a major global public health concern and a cause of serious respiratory illness in all age groups,” said Ann Falsey, Professor of Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine. “The positive efficacy results from the CYPRESS study reinforce the potential of this investigational RSV vaccine in preventing serious disease resulting from RSV in older adults.”
Janssen has now initiated a global phase 3 EVERGREEN study to evaluate the vaccine candidate against lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV vs placebo in approximately 23,000 adults aged 60 years and older.