FDA Approves RSV Vaccine Utilizing McLellan and NIH Research

May 30, 2023

The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first-ever respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for older adults that utilizes research developed by a team that includes LCID Member Jason McLellan and scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This vaccine culminates a decades-long search for an effective tool to prevent this illness which can be deadly to children and older adults.

McLellan, along with NIH researchers Barney Graham and Peter Kwong, has been working for several years on structure-based vaccine design to create an effective RSV vaccine. Incorporating this research, GSK developed a vaccine, Arexvy, that was approved by the FDA on May 3 for use in older adults. Another RSV vaccine for pregnant mothers developed by Pfizer to help protect infants has received a recommendation for approval by a panel of FDA advisers. This vaccine uses the same research from McLellan and the NIH team.  

For more information, please see: FDA-Approved RSV Vaccine Enabled by Work of UT Molecular Biologist