Bronchiolitis: Sanofi's vaccine, "a real clinical advance", says the president

Alexandre Dalifard 17:31 pm, May 15, 2023

Where are we after the electroshock of Covid-19? Emmanuel Macron has made the repatriation of drug production a priority. Three years later, shortages in pharmacies were noted this winter with the triple epidemic experienced by the France. Covid, flu and bronchiolitis have mixed badly in France during the winter season. This generated a peak in demand of more than 40%. However, regarding bronchiolitis, where nine out of ten children are infected before the age of 2, encouraging results have been announced.

Sanofi, the innovative French global healthcare company, has developed a preventive treatment for bronchiolitis, linked to the RSV virus. It is already authorized and approved by the European authorities but it is still not marketed. For the occasion, Audrey Derveloy, President of Sanofi, was the guest of La France bouge on Europe 1. At the microphone of Elisabeth Assayag, she returns to this vaccine and presents its details and characteristics.

80% of hospitalizations avoided

"Bronchiolitis is common and it is serious," warns the president of Sanofi. One in three children who arrive at the emergency room is hospitalized and this causes hospitals to become overwhelmed. "More than 40% of pediatric beds in hospitals in winter are occupied by bronchiolitis," she said. Faced with this, the vaccine against this disease, developed by Sanofi, could prevent 80% of hospitalizations. "These are the data from the Harmony study that were presented last week, carried out on more than 8,000 children, including 2,000 in France, and which show that we would have a real solution to desaturate hospitals next winter. This is a real clinical breakthrough," says Audrey Derveloy, who hopes to make the vaccine available for the next winter season.

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But then, why wait? "You have to get it right. So there is a regulatory framework, we follow it and we also have discussions, hand in hand, with the authorities. This is a job that must be done in co-construction. Then, learned societies are also really involved in these decisions, since it is the doctors who will be able to explain to parents the interest of this treatment, "she explains. On the other hand, for her, "it is not acceptable that bronchiolitis is responsible for 40% of hospitalization in winter when we have a solution that can avoid that". "So it's our responsibility to be ready for the epidemic," she said.

"A gesture to cover an epidemic season"

So how will this vaccination campaign unfold? "The teams will work to inform pediatricians, in collaboration with learned societies. The details of the framework have yet to be finalized, but the idea is that infants under 1 year of age can benefit and be covered for this epidemic," said the Sanofi president. Regarding the taking, this represents an injection of an antibody, which means that there is immediate protection and that the child is covered during the season. "A preventive treatment, a gesture to cover a season of epidemic," says Audrey Derveloy.

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The President of Sanofi truly hopes that all families and healthcare professionals can benefit from this technological innovation. "The France must be a leader on this issue," she said.