GSK
shingles vaccine shows benefits across all age groups
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[April 28, 2015] LONDON
(Reuters) - An experimental shingles vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline is
effective across all age groups, researchers said on Tuesday, boosting
the prospects of a key product in the British drugmaker's development
pipeline.
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In contrast to Merck's established Zostavax, currently the only
product on the market, GSK's vaccine HZ/su showed no diminution in
efficacy with age, according to detailed results from a large Phase
III trial.
Zostavax is less effective among people who are 70 years or older -
a group often at risk from shingles.
Goldman Sachs analysts said in a report on Tuesday that efficacy
across age groups could give HZ/su a meaningful edge over Zostavax,
and GSK's product had the potential to achieve peak sales of around
1 billion pounds ($1.5 billion) a year.
GSK had said in a brief release in December that HZ/su reduced the
risk of shingles by 97.2 percent in adults aged 50 years and older.
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However, the full results of the clinical study giving age-group
breakdowns were only disclosed at a medical congress in Copenhagen
on Tuesday and published online simultaneously in the New England
Journal of Medicine.
These showed efficacy was maintained across age groups, ranging
between 96.6 percent in people aged 50-59 years and 98 percent in
those 70 years or older.
The vaccine had a clinically acceptable safety profile, researchers
on the GSK-funded study said, although reports of injection-site
redness, swelling and pain were common.
Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the same virus
that causes chickenpox. After an attack of chickenpox, the virus
lies dormant in certain nerve tissue but in older people in can
reappear in the form of shingles.
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GSK and Merck's vaccines work in different ways. Zostavax is a
so-called live attenuated virus vaccine while HZ/su combines a
protein found on the virus that causes shingles with an adjuvant, or
booster, which is intended to enhance the immunological response.
The adjuvant includes a component from U.S. biotech firm Agenus,
which is entitled to royalties on any future sales.
($1 = 0.6554 pounds)
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Pravin Char)
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