Moderna’s mRNA vaccine appears promising for older adults with RSV

Moderna’s respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine has demonstrated positive levels of efficacy in older adults throughout a phase 3 trial. The vaccine demonstrated efficacy of 83.7% in the recent ConquerRSV trial.

The vaccine utilises mRNA technology to provide a level of immunity against RSV infection for older adults aged 60 and over.

Throughout the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled ConquerRSV trial, around 37,000 adults aged 60 or older from 22 countries were given either the vaccine or a placebo dose. The primary efficacy endpoints of the trial were met, with a vaccine efficacy of 83.7%. The vaccine was also found to be safe and well tolerated, with a few mild or moderate adverse reactions reported. The most common side effects were injection site pain, fatigue, headache, myalgia and arthralgia.

The data showed that in 64 cases there were two or more symptoms of infection, 55 of these cases were in the placebo group and 9 in the vaccinated group. There were 20 cases of three of more symptoms of infection, 17 of which were in the placebo group and only three among the vaccinated patients.

Abdullah Baqui, principal investigator of the study sites in Bangladesh, professor of the Department of International Health, director of the International Center for Maternal and Newborn Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, commented: “This trial will help to understand the role of severe acute respiratory infections in older adult populations and inform the future implementation of vaccines in adults in lower-resource areas.”

Betsy Goodfellow