The European Union has approved a vaccine developed by the Moderna group against the main virus that causes bronchiolitis, the messenger RNA (mRNA) pharmaceutical company announced today, a few months after a similar decision in the United States.

The European Commission has approved the marketing of mRESVIA, an mRNA vaccine (produced using the methodology) against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)“, Moderna, the US company best known for its Covid vaccine, said in a statement.

Moderna’s vaccine, intended for people over the age of 60, joins a series of treatments that have recently emerged to prevent infants and the elderly from the effects of RSV infection, the virus that causes the vast majority of forms of bronchiolitis.

Some of these treatments, such as Sanofi’s synthetic antibody Beyfortus, are intended for infants, in whom bronchiolitis causes large outbreaks each winter. Other treatments, such as GSK’s Arexvy vaccine and Moderna’s, target the elderly for whom the risks of RSV are less well known as it can cause sometimes fatal complications.

A fourth preventive treatment, Pfizer’s Abrysvo, is intended for two groups: very young children and the elderly.

The EU decision, which follows a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency (EMA), paves the way for approvals from member states’ health authorities.

A special feature of Moderna’s product is that it is the first non-Covid messenger RNA vaccine approved by the EU.

The pandemic, during which this innovative technique was applied, allowed the development of highly effective vaccines against Covid – those from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech.