Efficacy and serious adverse events profile of the adjuvanted recombinant zoster vaccine in adults with pre-existing potential immune-mediated diseases: a pooled post hoc analysis on two parallel randomized trials

Rheumatology (Oxford). 2021 Mar 2;60(3):1226-1233. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keaa424.

Abstract

Abstract objective: In the ZOE-50 (NCT01165177) and ZOE-70 (NCT01165229) phase 3 clinical trials, the adjuvanted recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) demonstrated ≥90% efficacy in preventing herpes zoster (HZ) in all age groups ≥50 years. Given the increased HZ risk associated with certain underlying autoimmune diseases or their treatment regimes, we conducted a post hoc analysis of RZV's efficacy against HZ and safety profile [specifically, the occurrence of serious adverse events (SAEs)] in ZOE-50/70 participants who reported pre-existing potential immune-mediated diseases (pIMDs) at enrolment and were not on immunosuppressive therapies.

Methods: Adults aged ≥50 (ZOE-50) and ≥70 (ZOE-70) years were randomized to receive two doses of RZV or placebo 2 months apart. In this subgroup analysis of participants with at least one pIMD at enrolment, the efficacy was calculated for two-dose recipients who did not develop confirmed HZ before 30 days post-dose 2. SAE occurrence was evaluated for all participants who received at least one dose.

Results: Of the 14 645 RZV and 14 660 placebo recipients from the ZOE-50/70 studies, 983 and 960, respectively, reported at least one pre-existing pIMD at enrolment and were included in these analyses. The most frequent pre-existing conditions were psoriasis, spondyloarthropathy and RA. Efficacy against HZ was 90.5% (95% CI: 73.5, 97.5%) overall with the lowest being 84.4% (95% CI: 30.8, 98.3%) in the 70-79-year-old age group. SAEs and fatal SAEs were similar between RZV and placebo recipients.

Conclusion: In ZOE-50/70 participants with pre-existing pIMDs, RZV was highly efficacious against HZ and SAE incidence was similar between RZV and placebo recipients.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, https://clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01165177 (ZOE-50), NCT01165229 (ZOE-70).

Keywords: potential immune-mediated diseases; psoriasis; rheumatoid arthritis; spondyloarthropathy; vaccines; varicella-zoster virus.

Publication types

  • Meta-Analysis
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Arthritis, Rheumatoid / epidemiology
  • Celiac Disease / epidemiology
  • Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic
  • Female
  • Herpes Zoster / epidemiology*
  • Herpes Zoster / immunology
  • Herpes Zoster Vaccine*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Psoriasis / epidemiology
  • Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
  • Spondylarthropathies / epidemiology
  • Vaccines, Synthetic

Substances

  • Herpes Zoster Vaccine
  • Vaccines, Synthetic

Associated data

  • ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT01165229
  • ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT01165177