If it works against Covid-19, why not use messenger RNA to fight seasonal flu?
After Moderna this summer, the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced on Monday that it had carried out the first injections aimed at evaluating its influenza vaccine in humans using messenger RNA technology, already used in its vaccine against Covid-19.
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Pfizer's clinical trial is taking place in the United States.
In the coming weeks, it will consist in evaluating the safety of a single dose of this new vaccine, as well as its immunogenicity, i.e. its ability to cause an immune reaction, in healthy people aged 65 to 85 years old.
A few hundred participants agreed to submit to it, according to clinical trial details posted on a US government site.
Today, we announced the start of a Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate a potential new single dose #mRNA vaccine targeted against seasonal #flu as part of a planned wave of programs exploring mRNA technology to help combat vaccine-preventable diseases. t.co/svs8Fgsyur pic.twitter.com/0HNp4Ogz5S
- Pfizer Inc. (@pfizer) September 27, 2021
Current influenza vaccines use inactivated viruses, but this process takes a long time to prepare.
The target strains of the constantly evolving virus must therefore be chosen for the development of vaccines about six months before the start of the seasonal epidemic.
The effectiveness of the vaccines used at the moment is generally 40% to 60%.
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"The flexibility of messenger RNA technology and its rapid production could potentially allow better association with the strain (of the circulating virus), greater reliability of supply, and the opportunity to improve effectiveness of current influenza vaccines, ”says Pfizer in its press release.
The World Health Organization estimates that influenza is responsible for about 3 to 5 million cases of serious illness each year, and 290,000 to 650,000 deaths.
In addition to influenza, Pfizer said it plans to study the use of messenger RNA technology against other respiratory viruses, as well as against genetic diseases or cancers.
