(Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson said it will discontinue the late-stage study of its experimental respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) adult vaccine, weeks after rivals Pfizer and GSK gained a lead in the race for the first vaccine against the virus.
J&J made the decision in order to “to focus on medicines with the greatest potential benefit to patients,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
Pfizer and GSK’s RSV vaccines gained the backing of a panel of U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisers in late February and early March, bringing them a step closer to approval in the United States.
Pfizer and GSK are running a tight race to tap into the RSV vaccine market, which is estimated to be more than $5 billion and could exceed $10 billion by 2030, according to analysts.
(Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Shounak Dasgupta)
