NewsDesk @bactiman63

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Sanofi and AstraZeneca’s Beyfortus™ (nirsevimab-alip) for the prevention of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD) in newborns and infants born during or entering their first RSV season, and for children up to 24 months of age who remain vulnerable to severe RSV disease through their second RSV season.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
using indirect immunofluorescence technique/CDC

The companies plan to make Beyfortus available in the U.S. ahead of the upcoming 2023-2024 RSV season.

In the U.S., Beyfortus is a single-dose long-acting antibody designed to help prevent RSV lower respiratory tract disease in all infants through their first RSV season. Beyfortus is also indicated for children up to 24 months of age who remain vulnerable to severe RSV disease through their second RSV season.

Beyfortus, provided directly to newborns and infants as a single dose, offers rapid protection via an antibody to help prevent LRTD caused by RSV, without requiring activation of the immune system. Beyfortus administration can be timed to the start of the RSV season.

RSV is the leading cause of hospitalization for infants under the age of one in the U.S., averaging 16 times higher than the annual rate for influenza. Each year, an estimated 590,000 RSV disease cases in infants under one require medical care, including physician office, urgent care, emergency room visits and hospitalizations.

The FDA decision follows the positive recommendation of the FDA Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee and was based on the extensive Beyfortus clinical development program spanning three pivotal late-stage clinical trials. Across all clinical endpoints, a single dose of Beyfortus demonstrated high and consistent efficacy against RSV LRTD extending through five months, a typical RSV season.

Beyfortus was well tolerated with a favorable safety profile that was consistent across all clinical trials. The overall rates of adverse events were comparable between Beyfortus and placebo and the majority of adverse events were mild or moderate in severity. The most common adverse events were rash and injection site reactions.

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The single administration of Beyfortus was developed to correspond with the beginning of the RSV season for babies born prior to the season or at birth for those born during the RSV season. In clinical trials, Beyfortus helped prevent RSV LRTD requiring medical care in all infant populations studied, including those born healthy at term, late preterm or preterm, or with specific health conditions that make them vulnerable to severe RSV disease. RSV disease requiring medical care included physician office, urgent care, emergency room visits and hospitalizations.

Beyfortus, jointly developed by Sanofi and AstraZeneca, was approved in the European Union in October 2022, in Great Britain in November 2022, and recently received approval in Canada in April 2023. Regulatory applications are also currently under review in China, Japan and several other countries.