Vaccine for urinary tract infections in development

Urinary tract infections are one of the most common bacterial infections. It is painful, requires antibiotic treatment, and recurs in 20% to 30% of cases. Because of the risk of developing or increasing resistance to antibiotics, it is important to look for potential alternative treatments to treat or prevent urinary tract infections.

MV140 vaccine

of MV140 vaccine It is manufactured by the Spanish pharmaceutical company Immunotek. MV140, known as Uromune, consists of glycerol, sodium chloride, artificial pineapple flavor, and a suspension of heat-inactivated whole bacteria in water. Strains of four bacterial species (V121) were included in equal proportions. Escherichia coli, V113 Klebsiella pneumoniae, V125 Enterococcus faecalis, and V127 Proteus vulgaris). MV140 is administered sublingually as a 100 µL spray twice daily for 3 months.

This vaccine is in stages 2-3 of development. It is available under a non-marketing authorization special access program in 26 countries, including Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Australia, New Zealand and Chile. MV140 was recently approved in Mexico and the Dominican Republic and submitted for registration with Health Canada.

a randomized study A paper published in 2022 showed that the vaccine was effective in preventing urinary tract infections for nine months. In total, 240 women with urinary tract infections were given either MV140 for 3 or 6 months or a placebo for 6 months. The primary endpoint was the number of urinary tract infection episodes during the 9-month study period after vaccination.

In this pivotal study, MV140 administered for 3 and 6 months significantly reduced the median number of urinary tract infection episodes from 3.0 to 0.0 during the 9-month efficacy period compared to placebo. did. Median time to first urinary tract infection after 3 months of treatment was 275.0 days in the MV140 group versus 48.0 days in the placebo group.

9 years follow-up

On 6 April, at the 2024 Congress of the European Society of Urology, urologists from the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust presented the results of a study evaluating the MV140 vaccine spray for the long-term prevention of bacterial urinary tract infections. Announced.

This was a prospective cohort study of 89 participants (72 women and 17 men) aged 18 years and older with recurrent UTIs who received a 3-month course of MV140. Participants had no urinary tract infections or other urinary tract abnormalities (such as tumors, stones, or kidney infections) at the time of vaccination.

Post-vaccination follow-up was conducted over nine years, during which researchers analyzed data from the electronic health records of the first cohort. They asked participants about the occurrence of urinary tract infections after vaccination and possible side effects related to it. Therefore, the results were self-reported.

long term effectiveness

In this cohort, 48 participants (59%) reported no infections during the 9-year follow-up. In the cohort of 89 participants, the mean time without infection was 54.7 months (4.5 years; 56.7 months for women and 44.3 months for men). No vaccine-related side effects were observed.

Limitations of this study included the small number of participants and difficulty collecting self-report data. Additionally, all cases were uncomplicated urinary tract infections.

The authors concluded that “9 years after first receiving the sublingual spray MV140 vaccine, 54% of participants did not have a urinary tract infection.” For them, “this vaccine is safe in the long term, and participants reported fewer urinary tract infections and, if they did occur, they were less severe.”

Vaccination may therefore be an alternative to antibiotic treatment and may help combat the emergence of antibiotic resistance. Full study results are expected to be published by the end of 2024.

Elderly patients in long-term care facilities, children suffering from acute UTIs, and adults suffering from complicated acute UTIs (e.g. catheters or neurogenic bladder).

This story has been translated from GymIt is part of the Medscape Professional Network and uses several editing tools, including AI, as part of the process. A human editor reviewed this content before publication.