RSV vaccine competition heats up as Pfizer’s shot for older adults gets FDA approval

The race to grab a piece of a fast-growing market for respiratory-disease vaccines intensified this week as the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Pfizer’s PFE, -0.01% Abrysvo, a respiratory syncytial virus vaccine for older adults.

RSV often causes only mild coldlike symptoms, but it can also lead to lung infections or pneumonia. Up to 160,000 older adults are hospitalized and up to 10,000 die each year due to RSV infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adults age 65 and older and those with chronic heart or lung disease or weakened immune systems are at highest risk, according to the CDC.

More competition is on the horizon, with Moderna MRNA, +0.21% expected to launch an RSV vaccine next year. In a clinical trial, Pfizer’s RSV vaccine for older adults was 67% effective against lower-respiratory-tract illness with at least two signs or symptoms and 86% effective against illness with at least three signs or symptoms. In February, an FDA advisory panel narrowly backed the shot, with some panelists raising concerns about Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological reaction.

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