Sanofi Pasteur MSD has submitted a licensing application to the European Medicines Agency for the first seasonal influenza vaccine delivered by intradermal (ID) microinjection. The submission is based on trials, involving more than 7000 participants. The ID vaccine is claimed to generate a superior level of seroprotective immune response against all tested influenza strains, compared with standard intramuscular (IM) influenza vaccination, in participants over 60 years of age. It is noted that with ageing, the immune system tends to weaken and the elderly become less responsive to classical intramuscular vaccination, a phenomenon known as immunosenescence. According to the company, a better performing vaccine in the elderly is needed and the concept of this new vaccine is based on the fact that there is a high concentration of specialised immune cells in the intradermal skin layer which have the ability to effectively provide an improved immune response.
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