Two combination vaccine candidates for prevention of influenza and COVID-19 granted Fast Track designation in the US

On Dec 12, 2024

The US Food and Drug Administration has granted Fast Track designation to two Sanofi combination vaccine candidates to prevent influenza and COVID-19 infections in individuals 50 years of age and older. Both candidates combine two already licensed and authorized vaccines with proven efficacy through randomized controlled studies, and with favorable tolerability.

The first combination vaccine candidate consists of the influenza protein-based trivalent vaccine Fluzone High-Dose combined with the adjuvanted recombinant Novavax COVID-19 vaccine. The second candidate (NCT06695130) combines the influenza recombinant protein-based trivalent vaccine Flublok with the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine.

Both Fluzone High-Dose and Flublok have been proven to prevent more influenza infections in older adults than standard-dose influenza vaccines in pivotal randomized clinical studies. Additionally, in real-world evidence studies they have demonstrated significant and consistent reductions in flu-related hospitalizations. The Novavax COVID-19 vaccine has been shown to have a better tolerability profile than currently available mRNA COVID-19 vaccines when administered as a booster dose. It has also demonstrated high efficacy against COVID-19 as primary vaccination in two pivotal phase 3 studies.

Thomas Triomphe
Executive Vice President, Vaccines, Sanofi
“Building on our immunology expertise and on 12 years of robust clinical and real-world data, we aim to continue leading the way in protection against flu and its severe outcomes. Our goal is to develop a combined flu and COVID-19 vaccine that offers simpler scheduling and fewer injections without compromising on the industry leading levels of efficacy, safety and tolerability of the standalone vaccines included in our combination vaccine.”

Fast Track designation was granted based on the potential for the combination vaccine candidates to address the significant individual and healthcare system burden of two serious illnesses that can result in hospitalization and death, particularly among older adults.

Sanofi has initiated two separate phase 1/2 parallel, randomized, modified double-blind, multi-arm studies (NCT06695117 and NCT06695130) to evaluate the safety and immune response induced by the two combination vaccine candidates.