AstraZeneca flu vaccine wins backing from EU regulators

20th Sep 2013 15:08

Pharmaceuticals group AstraZeneca has received a green light from European regulators for its nasal influenza vaccine, giving its share price a small boost on Friday.The company said that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency has issued a "positive opinion" on its 'Fluenz Tetra', a four-in-one live attenuated vaccine for the prevention of seasonal flu in children aged between two and 17 years of age.The recommendation will now be reviewed by the European Commission, which could approve it for commercial release from the 2014-2015 flu season onwards.AstraZeneca believes that its new vaccine will provide a better protection against influenza B, which accounts for around 25% of flu strains that circulate across Europe. In addition to two influenza A strains, the four-strain Fluenz Tetra also includes two influenza B strains as opposed to just one in other historically-approved flu vaccines.A study has found that the safety and immunogenicity profile of Fluenz Tetra was comparable to currently approved three-strain (trivalent) vaccine, Fluenz, the group said.Filip Dubovsky, the Vice President of AstraZeneca's global biologics research and development arm, said he was "delighted" that Fluenz Tetra has received a positive opinion from the CHMP. "The inclusion of two influenza B strains in the vaccine will provide broad protection and should help to reduce the overall incidence of influenza," he said.The stock was up 0.51% at 3,257p by 15:36 on Friday.BC