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Beyfortus RSV shot to launch in Korea next month

Published: 03 Dec. 2024, 15:49 Updated: 03 Dec. 2024, 16:47

LEE JAE-LIM
[email protected]

Yun Ki-wook, a professor in SNUH's Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, discusses the domestic release of Beyfortus, an antibody treatment for respiratory syncytial virus, during a press event at the Plaza Hotel in central Seoul on Tuesday. [SANOFI KOREA]

Beyfortus, a long-acting preventative antibody for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), will be released in Korea next month.

The immunization is scheduled to arrive in domestic hospitals ahead of the coming Lunar New Year, which takes place between Jan. 28 and 30.

The antibody, jointly developed and commercialized by Sanofi and AstraZeneca, received approval from Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in April.

The injection is available for all ages, including newborns and infants younger than two years old — an age group highly susceptible to the virus, with approximately 90 percent contracting it before the age of two.

In some cases, the infection can progress to severe lower respiratory illnesses, including pneumonia and bronchiolitis.

A 2021 Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) study showed that older infants felt the impacts of RSV infections with greater severity after the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Due to reduced exposure during the pandemic, older children who would typically have developed immunity early are now experiencing their first RSV infections,” Yun Ki-wook, a professor at the Seoul National University College of Medicine, said on Tuesday during a press event in central Seoul.

“RSV hospitalization rates in children have reached 84 percent for this facility, with 43 percent requiring respiratory support and 7.7 percent needing treatment in intensive care units. Most diagnoses were pneumonia or bronchiolitis, and 55 percent of cases involved children under two years old. Alarmingly, 45 percent of hospitalized infants had no underlying conditions, meaning that they were perfectly healthy before becoming infected with the virus.”

The virus poses a greater risk to infants because their bronchioles, the smallest airways leading to the lungs, are narrower, making them more susceptible to blockage from inflammation and mucus.

A dose of Beyfortus, administered once during the RSV season between fall and winter, can last five months. Another widely known RSV antibody Synagis requires monthly injections during the RSV season for it to be effective.

Sanofi did not disclose a price, saying it would vary by each medical institution.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [[email protected]]