Nirsevimab, known under the trade name Beyfortus, a preventive treatment to limit the risk of bronchiolitis in infants, will be sold in pharmacies this Thursday. “We will have 600,000 doses ready” in France for the entire 2024-2025 season, the president of Sanofi France confirmed to BFM Business. The maternity distribution campaign will take place from September 15 in mainland France, according to information communicated by the group.
This vaccine-like treatment, developed and produced by AstraZeneca and marketed by Sanofi, is given as an injection to infants. It does not trigger an immune response, but injects an antibody that protects against lower respiratory tract infections caused by RSV (respiratory syncytial virus). Severe infections can lead to hospitalisations of young children and overload the healthcare system.
Great success of the 2024-25 campaign
600,000 doses for 2024-25 is double the amount available last year. Distribution was so successful last year that the treatment ran out.
While the pharmaceutical industry is delighted with the success achieved, parents and pharmacies are rather talking about a fiasco over the past year. “Last year, it took an average of 15 days to receive orders placed on slow platforms, and sometimes products were delivered one by one…”, laments a pharmacist. Last year, Santé Publique France asked pharmacies not to keep stocks and to distribute exclusively on a first-come, first-serve basis. This led to delays and tensions. This year, the treatment should be distributed by wholesalers-distributors through the traditional drug circuit. Doubling the doses reserved for France should also avoid the tensions experienced last year.
Competitors in bronchiolitis prevention.
If Beyfortus is reserved for children, the vaccine war continues concerning treatments intended for the elderly. On Friday 23 August, the European Union approved an mRNA vaccine from the Moderna group aimed at people over 60, thus increasing the number of preventive treatments available. One vaccine, Pfizer’s Abrysvo, is intended for the elderly and pregnant women and is an alternative to treatment for young children.
Source: BFM TV
