Positive Real-World Evidence Supports the Effectiveness of Adjuvanted Seasonal Influenza Vaccine in Adults 65 Years and Older

Seqirus announced the publication of new real-world evidence (RWE) on the company's MF59® adjuvanted, trivalent influenza vaccine (aTIV) in the peer-reviewed medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Study results published on February 19, 2021, indicate aTIV (Fluad) was more effective in reducing influenza-related medical encounters than standard egg-based quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIVe) and high-dose trivalent influenza vaccine among adults 65 years and older during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 influenza seasons in the USA.

"The use of large, real-world datasets allows for the evaluation of effectiveness on a scale not typically analyzed in a randomized trial," said Constantina Boikos, lead study author and Senior Manager, Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation at Seqirus, in a press statement issued on April 20, 2021.

"This retrospective cohort study, which includes 10.6 million vaccinated U.S. individuals, demonstrates the value that RWE can provide by illustrating the effectiveness of influenza vaccines in real-world settings."

The MF59 adjuvant is designed to strengthen, broaden and increase the duration of the immune response.

This may be important when there is a mismatch between the virus strains included in the vaccine and the strains circulating in the community. The quadrivalent formulation of the MF59 adjuvanted influenza vaccine, which adds B strain to the trivalent formulation, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in February 2020 and in Europe in June 2020.

Seqirus is part of CSL Limited (ASX: CSL), a leading global biotechnology company with a dynamic portfolio of life-saving medicines, including those that treat hemophilia and immune deficiencies, as well as vaccines to prevent influenza.