Pfizer Prepares to Launch RSV Vaccine for Seniors and Pregnant Women

Executives announced today that the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer will launch its vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) for seniors and pregnant women in the United States and Europe later this year. Both Pfizer and the British pharmaceutical company GSK have developed vaccines against RSV and hope to launch them in America and Europe this year, but they are awaiting regulatory approval. Kina Swanson, Head of Viral Vaccine Research and Development at Pfizer, stated in a press briefing, "We expect to receive approvals in both the United States and Europe in time to begin work in the fall." RSV is a leading cause of pneumonia in infants and the elderly, and decades of research have resulted in two successful vaccines that Pfizer and GSK are racing to launch. The lower respiratory disease caused by the virus leads to approximately 14,000 deaths in the United States each year, and analysts estimate the vaccine market could reach billions of dollars by the end of the current decade. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to make a decision on the approval of the vaccines by May.