By Scott Kanowsky
Investing.com -- GlaxoSmithKline plc (LON:GSK) has announced that its vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus for adults aged 60 and above showed overall efficacy of 82.6%, beating the results of a treatment made by rival Pfizer (NYSE:PFE).
GSK called the outcome of a phase III trial of its RSV vaccine candidate "positive," adding that the drug could be particularly impactful for populations most at risk of the severe outcomes of the virus, which attacks the respiratory tract and can be serious for older adults as well as infants. In severe cases, the pharmaceutical firm said, the vaccine was 94.1% effective against lower respiratory tract disease.
"These are truly exceptional results given that today RSV remains one of the major infectious diseases without a vaccine, despite over 60 years of research," said GSK chief scientific officer Tony Wood in a statement.
"We believe that with the high vaccine efficacy demonstrated in this pivotal trial, our vaccine candidate has the potential to help reduce the significant global burden of RSV-associated disease in older adults, including those at the greatest risk of severe outcomes due to their age or underlying comorbidities."
The results come after a trial of a similar vaccine from U.S. peer Pfizer demonstrated effectiveness of 66.7%, although the studies were not performed in exactly the same manner.
GSK and Pfizer, along with fellow drugmakers Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), have been pushing to roll out a RSV vaccine, with analysts estimating that the market for it could one day be worth as much as $6B.