The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first-ever respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for use in adults aged 60 and over on Wednesday.
The approval of its drug Arexvy is a major victory for British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), which has been rushing to get its RSV vaccine out to the market before competitors including Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna.
“Today marks a turning point in our effort to reduce the significant burden of RSV,” Tony Wood, GSK’s chief scientific officer, said in a statement, adding that the company will now focus on making sure eligible older adults in the United States can get the vaccine “as quickly as possible.”…