(Adds details from Sanofi in paragraphs 2, 9 and 10) by Trevor Hunnicutt and Michael Erman
Makers of a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for infants, whose supply is limited, will deliver an additional 230,000 doses in January, the White House said Thursday, after U.S. government officials met with companies to discuss meeting winter demand.
According to a statement from one of the drug’s makers – France’s Sanofi SASY.PA – the additional supply means the companies will deliver 1.4 million doses of the drug to the United States this year, or more than 25% of additional injections than they had originally planned.
Officials from President Joe Biden’s administration have held regular meetings with Sanofi and AstraZeneca
AZN.L , co-developer of the RSV vaccine for infants and young children, called Beyfortus, to improve supply.
The new doses of Beyfortus come from a stock initially planned for the RSV season in the southern hemisphere, which will be replenished before that season begins next year, a Sanofi spokesperson said.
“Families need to be able to access the RSV vaccine. This is exactly why the administration has asked manufacturers to produce and market enough RSV vaccine to meet current demand,” said Kelly Scully , White House spokesperson.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, RSV is the leading cause of hospitalization in infants, causing approximately 1 to 3 percent of children younger than 12 months to be hospitalized in the United States each year.
The announcement of the 230,000 doses comes after officials met with Sanofi and AstraZeneca on Wednesday, the White House said. It follows a previous commitment for 77,000 additional doses.
U.S. health authorities in July approved Beyfortus, an injected antibody treatment, to prevent RSV in infants and young children. AstraZeneca and Sanofi have confirmed that additional doses of Beyfortus will be available in mid-January.
The increased supply means the United States has the capacity to provide Beyfortus to 40% of the birth cohort during RSV season.
The companies initially projected that the United States would need 1.1 million doses for the 2023-2024 RSV season, Sanofi said. They are working to further improve supplies for next year.
“Demand for Beyfortus has far exceeded all previous standards,” an AstraZeneca spokesperson said in a statement.
The drug has been out of stock since October, when RSV cases began to rise in the United States. Although cases have continued to rise sharply since mid-October, they remain below multi-year records reached last winter, according to government data.
Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said earlier this week that RSV cases in the country are likely near their peak, and may already have reached it. in the southern states of the United States.