The Royal Berkshire Foundation Trust announced in April 2024 that initial results from a long-term follow-up study of the safety and effectiveness of an oral spray-based vaccine against urinary tract infections (UTIs) are promising. The study reveals that in both men and women with “recurrent UTIs”, 54% of participants remained UTI-free for up to nine years after the vaccine was administered. Furthermore, they reported no notable side effects.
UTIs
UTIs are described as a “common” bacterial infection, often treated by antibiotics. Around half of women and one in five men experience these “painful and uncomfortable” infections. However, as antibiotic resistant UTIs are “on the rise” and drugs become less effective, there is a need for new ways of preventing and treating the infections.
MV140 in trial
A new solution could be emerging in the form of an oral vaccine: MV140. MV140 is administered through two sprays under the tongue every day for three months. The vaccine was developed by Spain-based pharmaceutical company, Immunotek, and contains four bacterial species in a suspension with water. It has been studied for short-term safety and effectiveness, but this is the first long-term follow-up study. It involved 89 patients who were originally treated privately at The Urology Partnership Reading.
The follow-up study allowed researchers to analyse data from the electronic health records of the original cohort from 2017. They interviewed participants about their experience of UTIs and asked them about side effects. 48 participants remained “entirely infection free” during the nine-year follow-up. The average infection-free period across the cohort was 54.7 months (four and a half years). 40% of participants reported having repeat doses of the vaccine after one or two years.
Safe and effective
Dr Bob Yang is a Consultant Urologist at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust and co-led the research, commenting that prior to taking the vaccine “all our participants suffered with recurrent UTIs, and for many women, these can be difficult to treat”.
“Nine years after first receiving this new UTI vaccine, around half of participants remained infection free. Overall, this vaccine is safe in the long term and our participants reported having fewer UTIs that were less severe.”
Indeed, if participants did report UTIs, they were able to treat these infections by “simply drinking plenty of water”. Not only is the vaccine effective, but it is “a very easy vaccine to administer” and “could be given by GPs as a 3-month course”.
“Many of our participants told us that having the vaccine restored their quality of life. While we’re yet to look at the effect of this vaccine in different patient groups, these follow-up data suggest it could be a game changer for UTI prevention if it’s offered widely, reducing the need for antibiotic treatments.”
Professor of Urology at the Alta Uro Medical Centre for Urology in Switzerland, and EAU Chair of Guidelines on Urological Infections, Gernot Bonkat, thinks the “findings are promising”.
“Recurrent UTIs are a substantial economic burden and the overuse of antibiotic treatments can lead to antibiotic-resistant infections.”
Although Professor Bonkat highlights the need for “further research”, the study “reveals encouraging data”.
“While we need to be pragmatic, this vaccine is a potential breakthrough in preventing UTIs and could offer a safe and effective alternative to conventional treatments.”
Could this vaccine offer hope to the many people who experience UTIs and contribute to the fight against AMR? For more like this, don’t forget to subscribe to our weekly newsletters here.
