Drug Database
RA

rabies vaccine

✓ Approved

Sanofi S.A · Vaccine · Vaccine

What is rabies vaccine?

rabies vaccine is a vaccine developed by Sanofi S.A. It is approved for therapeutic indications via injectable (others).

Drug Profile

CompanySanofi S.A
Drug ClassVaccine, Large Molecules
RouteInjectable (Others)
StatusApproved
Sources: ClinicalTrials.gov, Sanofi S.A

Therapeutic Indications

rabies vaccine is developed for 1 unique indication across 1 therapeutic area.

Therapeutic AreaConditionPhase
Infections and infestationsRabies✓ Approved

Related Research Articles

PubMedAdvances in virology2026-09-20

Comparative Sequence Analysis of the Envelope Gene of Kyasanur Forest Disease Virus Vaccine Strain With Currently Circulating Field Strains.

Kaje Keerthi K, Marinaik Chandranaik B CB, Gomes Amitha Reena AR, Rizwan Apsana A et al.

The present study was undertaken with the objective of performing comparative sequence analysis of the envelope (E) gene of Kyasanur forest disease virus (KFDV) vaccine strain P9605 with the circulating field strains. The study was taken up as the currently used KFDV vaccine strain, KFDV P9605, was isolated in the 1960s. For this study, we designed two sets of primers targeting the complete amplification of the E gene of KFDV. The sequencing was performed by the Sanger method, and the deduced sequence of the vaccine virus was deposited in GenBank with accession number PX067005. This sequence obtained for the vaccine virus was aligned and compared with sequences of GenBank-deposited circulating field strains. We also performed comparative sequence analysis of the Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) vaccine seed virus having passaged twice in mouse brain with the vaccine seed virus passaged six times in mouse brain to investigate whether multiple passages in mouse brain will lead to genetic mutation in the immunologically important E gene. The phylogenetic analysis revealed seven amino acid mutations in the field strains at positions A123T, S158N, D178E, D239N, A313S, M429I, and G479A when compared with the vaccine strain. We did not find any mutations at the critical fusogenic segment (residues 98-113) in the E gene of currently circulating field strains compared to the vaccine seed virus. The study found no genetic variations in the E gene of the KFD virus passed two times and passed six times in mouse brain. We performed SWISS-MODEL homology modeling, AlphaFold protein analysis, and Ramachandran plot analysis to study the E protein structures and stability. The observations made in this study suggest slow evolutionary drift and conserved structural stability of the envelope gene of KFDV ever since its emergence 7 decades ago; however, the functional implications of these amino acid substitutions need further studies on their roles in viral infectivity, transmission, and impact on immunity.

PMID 42763584
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PubMedFrontiers in immunology2026-09-19

Biological barriers underlying the extremely high fatality of symptomatic rabies: neuroinvasion, immune evasion, and blood-brain barrier restriction.

Sun Chen C, Guo Xiao X, Xiao Liang L, Wang Wenxin W et al.

Rabies remains one of the most preventable fatal infections, yet once clinical symptoms appear, survival is exceedingly rare. This paradox cannot be explained simply by the absence of a single effective antiviral drug. In this review, we frame symptomatic rabies as a sequential barrier-driven disease process in which neuroinvasion, immune evasion, and blood-brain barrier restriction converge to make post-symptom rescue biologically difficult. Rabies virus first changes the anatomical battlefield by entering peripheral nerves, exploiting receptor-supported uptake and retrograde axonal transport, and establishing infection within protected neural circuits. It then delays the host counterattack through weak or strain-dependent innate sensing, viral interference with interferon and signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) signaling, and insufficient conversion of peripheral immune activation into effective central nervous system clearance. Once central nervous system (CNS) infection is established, blood-brain barrier restriction further limits access of neutralizing antibodies, antiviral compounds, biologics, and immune cells to infected neural tissue. The convergence of these barriers permits CNS persistence and drives fatal encephalopathy, characterized less by widespread neuronal destruction than by synaptic, dendritic, circuit, autonomic, and functional collapse. Recent experimental advances, including CNS-accessible antibody strategies, blood-brain barrier (BBB)-modulating approaches, monoclonal antibody therapy, and One Medicine models, suggest that symptomatic rabies may require stage-specific therapeutic combinations rather than a single rescue intervention. We propose that future rabies therapy should be organized around three translational windows: preventing neuroinvasion before CNS entry, achieving immune-assisted viral control during early CNS infection, and combining CNS viral clearance with neuroprotective and autonomic support once encephalopathy is established. However, most mechanistic and therapeutic evidence remains derived from cellular and animal models, and clinical validation of CNS-directed or barrier-targeted interventions in symptomatic human rabies remains limited. Breaking the barrier cascade may be the central requirement for making symptomatic rabies treatable.

PMID 42761642
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PubMedBrain research bulletin2026-09-19

Rabies and distemper exhibit distinct patterns of axonal damage and apoptotic cell death in the central nervous system of dogs and foxes.

Pfetzing Sarah S, Freuling Conrad C, Puff Christina C, Kammeyer Patricia P et al.

Rabies is a fatal zoonosis caused by the rabies virus (RABV), which enters the central nervous system via a retrograde axonal pathway with histopathologically often very subtle but fatal polioencephalitis. Distemper is characterized by neuronal and/or axonal damage, as well as leukoencephalitis with demyelination in dogs and polioencephalitis without demyelination in foxes. This study aimed to compare the neuropathological lesions and the amount of axonal damage and apoptosis in the central nervous system of dogs and foxes infected with RABV or canine distemper virus (CDV), alongside non-infected control groups. Staining with hematoxylin and eosin, luxol fast blue-nuclear fast red, and immunohistochemistry for lyssaviral nucleoprotein, CDV nucleoprotein, β-amyloid precursor protein (a marker for early axonal damage) and active caspase-3 (a marker for apoptosis) was performed on archival formaldehyde-fixed, paraffin-embedded brain specimens. Dogs and foxes infected with RABV showed no change in the number of active caspase-3-immunoreactive cells and β-amyloid precursor protein-immunoreactive axons and no demyelinating areas. In contrast, CDV infection was characterized by an increase in active caspase-3-immunoreactive cells and β-amyloid precursor protein-immunoreactive axons in both species, and additionally demyelinating areas in the dog. These results suggest that RABV effectively evades recognition by intrinsic neuroaxonal antiviral mechanisms on its route to the central nervous system.

PMID 42762969
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PubMedEClinicalMedicine2026-09-19

Effectiveness of the 2025-2026 seasonal influenza vaccine among U.S. veterans: an observational study.

Xie Yan Y, Choi Taeyoung T, Al-Aly Ziyad Z

Annual vaccination is the primary strategy for preventing adverse clinical outcomes associated with seasonal influenza, but vaccine effectiveness varies by season with the degree of antigenic match and the predominant circulating subtype. The 2025-2026 season has been dominated by a newly emerged, antigenically distinct influenza A(H3N2) subclade K that arose after the vaccine strain was selected, raising concern about a vaccine mismatch and reduced effectiveness. Contemporary, season-specific evidence on effectiveness against clinically important outcomes is needed. We used U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) electronic health records to emulate a series of 24 sequential 7-day target trials among VA users with an in-person primary care visit between September 15, 2025, and February 28, 2026, comparing those who did and did not receive a seasonal influenza vaccine at the visit. The final analytic cohort comprised 1,401,492 participant-trials (526,350 vaccinated and 875,142 unvaccinated). Exposure was defined as receipt of the 2025-2026 seasonal influenza vaccine on the date of an eligible primary care visit, compared with no seasonal influenza vaccination at that visit or during follow-up. The primary outcome was a composite of seasonal influenza-associated emergency department visit or hospitalization. Individual components were also evaluated. Vaccine effectiveness (VE), defined as 1 minus the risk ratio, was estimated as the per-protocol effect among vaccinated participants using discrete-time survival models with inverse-probability-of-treatment and inverse-probability-of-censoring weighting. Marginal cumulative risks, and risk differences (RDs) per 10,000 persons, together with risk ratios, were estimated. Compared with no vaccination, receipt of the 2025-2026 vaccine was associated with a lower risk of the composite outcome (VE, 21.95%; 95% CI, 16.08%-27.65%; RD per 10,000 persons, -4.94; 95% CI, -6.49 to -3.47), influenza-associated emergency department visits (VE, 22.25%; 95% CI, 16.38%-27.94%; RD, -5.01; 95% CI, -6.55 to -3.53), and influenza-associated hospitalizations (VE, 31.84%; 95% CI, 14.77%-46.27%; RD, -1.08; 95% CI, -1.82 to -0.44). Vaccination was associated with lower risk of the composite outcome across prespecified subgroups defined by age (≤65 and >65 years) and immunocompromised status. Results were consistent across multiple sensitivity analyses, and negative outcome controls (all-cause hospitalization and all-cause death within 14 days) showed no association with vaccination. In analyses applying the same design to the 2024-2025 season, vaccine effectiveness was lower in 2025-2026 than in 2024-2025 for every outcome (composite, 21.95% vs 32.15%; approximately 30% lower in relative terms). The 2025-2026 seasonal influenza vaccine was associated with reductions in influenza-associated emergency department visits and hospitalizations, but its effectiveness was lower than in the immediately preceding season. These findings provide contemporary, season-specific evidence supporting the continued use of seasonal influenza vaccination to prevent clinically important influenza outcomes. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

PMID 42761462
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PubMedMedical microbiology and immunology2026-09-19

Pneumococcal vaccine serotype-specific antibody levels among PCV-unvaccinated children in Karnataka, India.

Ramakrishnan Shincy M SM, Ranjith R H RH, Mavuppadi Akhila M AM, Yashoda Honnamachanahalli T HT et al.

The immunogenicity of pneumococcal vaccines is commonly assessed using post-vaccination serotype-specific IgG antibody concentrations. Therefore, characterization of baseline antibody levels in vaccine-naïve populations is essential for understanding naturally acquired immunity and accurately interpreting vaccine responses. However, data on baseline serotype-specific IgG levels in healthy, unvaccinated Indian children remain limited. This study aimed to measure baseline serotype-specific pneumococcal IgG antibody levels in healthy vaccine-naïve Indian children. Baseline serotype-specific IgG antibody concentrations against 24 pneumococcal vaccine serotypes were measured in 600 healthy PCV-unvaccinated Indian children aged ≤ 5 years using the WHO-recommended ELISA method. Geometric mean concentrations (GMCs) were calculated for each pneumococcal serotype, and variations in antibody levels were analyzed according to age, gender, and season. Baseline IgG GMCs varied widely across serotypes, ranging from 0.14 µg/mL for serotype 12 F to 5.65 µg/mL for serotype 14. Overall, 71% of serotypes exhibited GMCs above the proposed protective threshold of 0.35 µg/mL. Age-dependent increases in antibody concentrations were observed, with peak GMCs in children aged > 36-≤48 months. Gender-based differences were minimal, with significantly higher GMCs observed in females only for serotype 9 N, whereas seasonal variation was evident for selected serotypes. Healthy Indian children demonstrate considerable heterogeneity in baseline serotype-specific pneumococcal IgG levels prior to vaccination. These findings provide important baseline immunological data on serotype-specific pneumococcal IgG levels in healthy, PCV unvaccinated Indian children and may serve as a useful reference for interpreting future pneumococcal vaccine immunogenicity studies and seroepidemiological investigations.

PMID 42762261
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PubMedAsia-Pacific journal of public health2026-09-19

Advancing Vaccine Security in Pandemic Preparedness: Malaysia's Growing Role, Opportunities and Challenges.

Md Hamzah Nurhafiza N, Mahmood Jemilah J, Renganathan Elil E

The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the need to promote and protect well-being by strengthening prevention, preparedness and response to global health threats. It also demonstrated the need for coordinated national and international efforts, particularly to ensure equitable access to vaccines during public health crises. Malaysia has implemented robust pandemic preparedness measures, although its COVID-19 experience highlighted the need to improve access to life-saving vaccines and to take urgent action towards achieving vaccine security to safeguard public health. Recent initiatives have demonstrated a commitment to this goal, but additional efforts are required to ensure sustainability. In this article, we examine Malaysia's efforts to strengthen vaccine security and the role of international partnerships in supporting this agenda. Malaysia has significant opportunities to promote its biopharmaceutical industry and advance vaccine security. However, the long-term success of these efforts will depend on sustainable investment, stronger coordination, and strategic alignment between domestic capability and international partnership-building.

PMID 42762057
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