RSV vaccine approval is a shot in the arm for GlaxoSmithKline 

A jab aimed at reducing thousands of deaths and hospital admissions among the elderly has been approved for use in the UK.

In a major boost for drugs giant GSK and its boss Emma Walmsley, regulators have green lit the first respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for the over-60s.

The virus causes cold-like symptoms in most, such as a runny nose, sneezing and a cough, but can lead to pneumonia in toddlers, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.

Each year it is responsible for 175,000 GP visits, 14,000 hospitalisations and 8,000 deaths in adults aged over 60. 

The complex molecular structure of the virus and safety concerns have stymied efforts to develop a vaccine since the virus was first discovered in 1956.

But GSK’s jab, known as Arexvy, has been given the all-clear for use among older adults in the UK by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Arexvy has already been approved by US and European regulators. 

The approvals boost GSK boss Walmsley as she seeks to bolster the company’s pipeline of drugs.

The approval followed trials involving 25,000 participants which resulted in an 83 per cent reduction in diseases of the lungs caused by RSV. 

The vaccine was found to be 94.1 per cent effective at stopping severe infection. 

The researchers reported ‘high vaccine efficacy was observed in various age groups and in participants with coexisting conditions’.

Side effects from the jab were ‘transient, with mild to moderate severity’, the researchers wrote.

The most common side effects were headaches, pain at the injection site, tiredness, or joint or muscle aches or pain.

Sir Andrew Pollard, professor of paediatric infection and immunity and director of the Oxford Vaccine Group at Oxford University, said: ‘There is a substantial burden of RSV infection in older adults, which contributes to the seasonal winter pressures for the NHS.’