FDA approves Afluria Quadrivalent to safeguard against influenza

The FDA approved Afluria Quadrivalent — the second seasonal influenza vaccine to be cell-derived and to protect against the four major strains of influenza A and B viruses — for patients aged 18 years and older, according to its manufacturer.

Afluria Quadrivalent (Seqirus) is a single-dose inactivated influenza vaccine intended as an active immunization against influenza diseases caused by influenza A subtype and type B viruses. The vaccine is administered via a preservative-free, prefilled syringe and is available in the United States for the upcoming influenza season, according to the release.

The FDA approved the first vaccine to fight strains of influenza A and B — Flucelvax Quadrivalent (Seqirus) — in May. This vaccine was approved for patients aged 4 years and older.

More than 200,000 people in the U.S. are hospitalized each year due to influenza-related complications. The approval of Afluria Quadrivalent, according to Gordon Naylor, president of Seqirus, gives everyone another option for combating the infection.

“As a new quadrivalent seasonal influenza vaccine, [Afluria Quadrivalent] will provide health care providers and their patients with an important option to further broaden their influenza vaccine offerings,” Naylor said in the release.

The approval of Afluria Quadrivalent is indicative of results from a randomized active-controlled trial, where the vaccine demonstrated noninferiority to two trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine comparators for all influenza strains within the vaccine among 3,449 adults.

Disclosure: Naylor is employed by Seqirus.