The National Medical Products administration (NMPA) approved GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) Shringrix, a vaccine for the prevention of shingles (herpes zoster) in adults over 50.
Shringrix is a recombinant subunit adjuvanted vaccine which has been approved after it was included on a list of 48 medicines that were ‘clinically urgent’ in China. The Shingles vaccine demonstrated efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity in more than 38,000 people in a Phase III clinical trial.
The vaccine is currently licensed for use in the EU, US, Canada, Japan, and Australia. Following approval from the NMPA, the vaccine will be introduced in China starting in 2020. GSK said it expects to increase its supply of the vaccine globally and will be investing in significant capacity expansion for production.
According to GSK, almost all adults over 50 have the shingles virus dormant in their nervous system as it caused by the reactivation of the varicella zoster virus which causes chickenpox.
Thomas Breuer, senior vice president and CMO of GSK Vaccines said in a statement that the vaccine has shown over 90% efficacy across all age groups in the prevention of shingles. He added that the disease affects one in three people across the Asia-Pacific region.