US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices votes unanimously to recommend Shingrix for…

Published: Oct. 20, 2021 at 4:59 PM MDT|Updated: 10 hours ago

PHILADELPHIA and LONDON, Oct. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- GlaxoSmithKline plc today announced that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted unanimouslyto recommend two doses of Shingrix (Zoster Vaccine Recombinant, Adjuvanted) for the prevention of shingles (herpes zoster) and its complicationsin adults 19 years of age and older who are or will be immunodeficient or immunosuppressed due to disease or therapy.

Today's vote means that millions of adults in the US aged 19 years and older who are at increased risk of shingles due to immunodeficiency or immunosuppression are now recommended to receive Shingrix.

Shingrix, a non-live, recombinant adjuvanted zoster vaccine, given intramuscularly in two doses, was initially approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2017 for the prevention of shingles in adults 50 years of age or older. The FDA approved Shingrix on July 23, 2021, for the prevention of shingles in adults aged 18 years and older who are or who will be at increased risk of shingles due to immunodeficiency or immunosuppression caused by known disease or therapy.

"Today's recommendation is an important clinical advancement in providing protection from shingles and its complications to adults with immunodeficiency or immunosuppression," said Sabine Luik, Chief Medical Officer & SVP Global Medical Regulatory & Quality, GSK. "The ACIP's vote helps to address an existing unmet need as individuals who are immunocompromised are at an increased risk of the disease."

This approval and recommendation for a new population was based on clinical studies examining the safety and efficacy of Shingrix in adults (18 years of age) who had undergone an autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplant (auHSCT) and those undergoing treatment for haematological malignancies (post-hoc analysis). Further safety and immunogenicity data were generated in adults who were, or were anticipated to be, immunodeficient or immunosuppressed due to known disease or therapy, including patients with HIV, solid tumours, and renal transplants.1,2,3,4,5,6

Shingrix combines a non-live antigen, to trigger a targeted immune response, with a specifically designed adjuvant system to generate a Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV)-specific immune response. Shingrix is not indicated for prevention of primary varicella infection (chickenpox).

For immunocompetent adults, Shingrix is intended to be administered in two doses, 2 to 6 months apart. However, for adults who are or will be immunodeficient or immunosuppressed due to known disease or therapy and who would benefit from a shorter vaccination schedule, the second dose can be administered 1 to 2 months after the first dose.

The ACIP recommendations will be forwarded to the director of the CDC and the US Department of Health and Human Services for review and approval. Once approved, the final recommendations will be published in a future Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

About shinglesShingles is caused by the reactivation of the varicella zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chickenpox.7Nearly all older adults have the VZV dormant in their nervous system, waiting to reactivate with advancing age.8As people age, the cells in the immune system lose the ability to maintain a strong and effective response to VZV reactivation.7,9

Shingles typically presents as a painful, itchy rash that develops on one side of the body and can last for two to four weeks.9,10The pain associated with shingles is often described as burning, shooting or stabbing.Even once the rash is gone, a person can experience postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), pain lasting from at least three months up to several years.7PHN is the most common complication of shingles, occurring in 10 to 18 percent of all shingles cases.7,11

There are an estimated 1 million cases of shingles in the United States each year.7More than 99 percent of those over 50 years old are infected with VZV, and one in three Americans will develop shingles in their lifetime. The risk increases to one in two for adults aged 85 years and older.

About Shingrix Shingrix is a non-live, recombinant subunit vaccine approved in the United States, Canada, EU, UK, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brazil and Korea to help prevent shingles (herpes zoster) in people aged 50 years or older. It combines an antigen, glycoprotein E, and an adjuvant system, AS01B, intended to generate a Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV)-specific immune response immune response that can help overcome the decline in immunity as people age.

Shingrix was previously approved by the European Commission (EC) and in the UK for prevention of shingles and post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) in adults 18 years of age or older at increased risk of shingles and granted marketing authorisation on August 25, 2020.

The updated US Prescribing Information will be available soon at http://www.gskpro.com.

Important Safety Information for ShingrixThe following is based on the US Prescribing Information for Shingrix. Please consult the full Prescribing information for all the labeled safety information.

About GSK GSK is a science-led global healthcare company with a special purpose: to help people do more, feel better, live longer. For further information please visit http://www.gsk.com/about-us.

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Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statementsGSK cautions investors that any forward-looking statements or projections made by GSK, including those made in this announcement, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Such factors include, but are not limited to, those described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2020 and any impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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1Bastidas A, et al. JAMA 2019;132:123133.

2Berkowitz EM, et al. J Infect Dis 2015;211:12791287.

3Vink P, et al. Cancer 2019;125:13011312.

4Dagnew AF, et al. Lancet Infect Dis 2019;19:9881000.

5Vink P, et al. Clin Infect Dis 2019. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciz177.

6Stadtmauer E, et al. Blood. 2014;124(19):2921-2929.

7Harpaz R, Ortega-Sanchez IR, Seward JF; Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Prevention of herpes zoster: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). MMWR Recomm Rep. 2008 Jun;57(RR-5):1-30.

8Gnann et al. Clinical practice. Herpes zoster. N Eng J Med. 2002;347(5):340-6.

9Johnson RW et al. Herpes zoster epidemiology, management, and disease and economic burden in Europe: a multidisciplinary perspective. Therapeutic Advances in Vaccines. 2015;3(4):109-120.

10Lal H et al. Efficacy of an Adjuvanted Herpes Zoster Subunit Vaccine in Older Adults. N Engl J Med. 2015;372:2087-96.

11Yawn et al. Health care utilization and cost burden of herpes zoster in a community population. Mayo Clin Proc. 2009;84(9):787-94.

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US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices votes unanimously to recommend Shingrix for...