Recombinant Influenza vaccine quadrivalent(Protein Sciences Corp.)

Moderna is leading the mRNA influenza vaccine race with its mRNA-1010 candidate. Image credit: Shutterstock/Cryptographer. England’s National Health Service (NHS) has revealed that flu cases last week were up 75% from the same period last year. Currently at the highest levels this winter, data shows an average of 2,226 patients were in hospital each day with flu. This is up 70% from the end of December, and three-quarters up from the same week in January 2023. Along with flu rates, the NHS said Covid-19 figures remain a concern. Nearly 4,000 patients were in hospital with Covid each day last week, according to a 1 February press release. Vaccines can help protect against the flu and are offered to people every year at higher risk of becoming seriously ill from the virus. Caused by the influenza virus, flu is significantly more serious than the common cold, which is caused by a wide range of viruses. NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care Julian Redhead said: “As always, I would urge the public to get their flu and Covid vaccines if they are eligible, and continue to come forward for NHS services when you need them.” See Also: LimmaTech secures funding for vaccine technology development GSK seeks to extend RSV vaccine use in adults aged 50-59 There are currently six vaccines in use for the 2023 to 2024 flu season in England, according to the UK Health Security Agency. All the vaccines protect against four subtypes of influenza. The vaccines contain two influenza A and B virus strains. Though these flu vaccines work with high efficacy, that has not stopped companies from exploring the next generation of jabs. Moderna is leading the race with a recent trial win for its mRNA-1010 seasonal influenza vaccine. The investigational mRNA vaccine demonstrated strong results in a Phase III trial showing protection against all four flu strains, as per data released by the company in September 2023. Additionally, Sanofi , Curevac , and Pfizer are all developing mRNA/flu combination vaccines, but some clinical trials have produced mixed results so far. GlobalData states that Moderna is currently the leading the mRNA vaccine charge in infectious diseases. GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology. Among the six approved flu vaccines in the UK, both Sanofi’s quadrivalent influenza vaccine, and Viatris ’ quadrivalent Influvac subunit Tetra, vaccine are licensed for infants from six months of age. CSL Seqirus’ cell-based quadrivalent influenza vaccine is given to those aged two years and above. AstraZeneca ’s Fluenz Tetra, a live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) is for those between two and 18 years of age. For adults over 18 years of age, Sanofi’s Supemtek, a recombinant quadrivalent influenza vaccine is used. CSL Seqirus’ other adjuvanted quadrivalent influenza vaccine (aQIV) is licensed for use for adults above 65 years of age. In a recent deal with the UKHSA , CSL Seqirus agreed to be on standby in case of a future influenza pandemic. The advance purchase agreement, signed in September 2023, meant that the Australia-headquartered drugmaker is ready to produce more than 100 million influenza pandemic vaccines if called upon. The drugs would be manufactured at the company’s plant in Liverpool. The government is already looking at ways of centralising the procurement of adult flu vaccines, as per a vaccination strategy published in December 2023. Currently, vaccines are obtained by individual NHS GP practices. Moving procurement to a national level could facilitate the co-administration of flu and Covid-19 vaccines, the report said.

A wolf strides through a restaurant, down a city street and into a hospital in Sanofi’s new TV ad for its flu vaccines Fluzone and Flublok. The voiceover speaks in the low voice of the wolf who’s wearing a sheepskin on his back: “Don’t mind me, I’m just the flu.” Meanwhile, people cough vigorously or even collapse as the realistic computer-generated wolf walks by. A medical professional finally blocks its way into the hospital and sends the wolf scurrying — and the sheepskin flying off its back. The advertised products Fluzone high-dose quadrivalent are approved for adults 65 and older while Flublok quadrivalent is for adults 18 and older. The new commercial ends with a prominent Sanofi logo over three healthcare professionals (two wearing Sanofi’s brand color purple) and the reminder that “This flu season, you do have a choice. Choose the protection of a Sanofi flu vaccine.” While Sanofi has run ads for the brands before — including one memorable Fluzone with a hedgehog spokescharacter — the then-Sanofi Pasteur vaccine division was not prominent. Earlier this year, Sanofi rebranded the pharma under a singular Sanofi identity and logo, leaving the Pasteur and Genzyme names behind. The branded ads follow Sanofi’s flu vaccine awareness campaign with Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander that debuted last week. Pfizer, BioNTech partner with Southeast Conference for Covid-19 booster TV ad Pfizer and BioNTech are teaming up with the southern college football league to encourage Covid-19 booster shots. The new TV ad celebrates the details of Saturday college games in the Southeastern Conference with highlights and videos of teams, including LSU, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia and Alabama. And coincidentally in some of the states with the lowest full vaccination rates in the country — six of the top 10, according to federal data. “Saturdays don’t just happen, Saturdays are in the details,” the voiceover says, adding “Pfizer and the SEC are teaming up to remind fans to get an updated Covid booster shot.” (And yes, I know this is just one week after I said no football weekends for me — so thanks football fans for the tip!) AstraZeneca rolls out antibody TV commercial with cancer survivor and actor Jeff Bridges As part of AstraZeneca’s “Up the Antibodies” campaign to raise awareness and support for people living with immunocompromised conditions as Covid-19 continues to spread, actor Jeff Bridges is speaking out in a new TV ad . Bridges carries his guitar in the woods, quietly talking about missing out on being with his family and friends and making movies while he was “away” during chemotherapy treatments for cancer treatment, complicated by being infected by Covid-19. “My immune system was totally shot. Fortunately, you don’t have to wait around for the worst — you can up your antibodies before Covid comes knocking,” he says. Celsion changes its name to Imunon Clinical-stage biotech Celsion is changing its name to Imunon, effective Wednesday. The new name better reflects the company’s work in immunology, specifically in immune-oncology and vaccines, the company explained in a news release . President and CEO Corinne Le Goff, who was most recently served as chief commercial officer at Moderna, said the name change underscores “our commitment to create a new category of medicines leveraging our proprietary plasmid DNA technology platform.” Horizon donates to establish patient advocacy program at Notre Dame Horizon Therapeutics is backing a new kind of patient program at the University of Notre Dame that aims to help students in the sciences learn through rare disease study and collaborations. The founding five-year gift of an undisclosed sum for the programming “advances training, outreach and research to better serve the rare disease community,” Horizon and Notre Dame said in press releases . Ad business worst among industries at handling layoffs with compassion, report says While not specific to pharma marketing and advertising, the broader advertising and media industry came in dead last at handling layoffs with empathy, according to a new study. JobSage conducted a survey of 1,000 laid-off employees about their experiences and found that advertising and media were ranked worst at layoffs by 83%, ranking just below hospitality (79%) and engineering (74%), according to a Capitol Communicator article . Among the issues noted as poor form was inconvenient timing such as before a holiday, no space to process the news and no opportunities to ask questions. Marketing moves Havas Health and You named Laura Mizrahi as chief creative officer of its flagship H4B Chelsea health and wellness agency. Mizrahi joins Havas from FCB Health New York and has worked on big name pharma brands including Cialis, Trulicity and Skyrizi.