Our ambition is to develop and deliver transformative vaccines and antibodies, providing long-lasting immunity to millions of people, where the burden of disease is greatest.

The UK has been at the forefront of vaccine development since Edward Jenner's discovery in 1796.1 After clean water, immunisation is the most effective public health measure to reduce infectious disease2 - a recent modelling study shows that immunisation programmes have saved the lives of approximately 154 million people globally over the past 50 years.*3

At AstraZeneca, we are continuing to advance science in vaccines and immune therapies and work with partners to drive improvements in public health to ensure our science reaches millions more people.

Our complementary approach

Vaccines for most

Engineering next generation vaccines that have the potential to develop potent and long-lasting immune responses for most people.

Antibodies for the most vulnerable

Pioneering approaches to develop targeted, long-acting antibodies that provide passive immunisation for people who are more susceptible to severe outcomes, such as those with immunocompromising conditions, elderly people or infants.

Key disease areas

Influenza, or flu, is a common but sometimes severe respiratory illness caused by infection of seasonal influenza A and B viruses, which circulate in the winter months.4 While many people recover from flu within a few days, some people – particularly children, older adults, pregnant women or those with underlying health conditions – can have more severe outcomes.4

 

Children under the age of five are more likely to be hospitalised with flu than older people, sometimes leading to health complications and utilising significant health system resources.5 Children are up to five times more likely to contract flu outside of the household and are mostly responsible for then spreading it within their households.6

 

Vaccinating children for flu can reduce the impact on children and families, as well as reducing winter pressures that face health systems. A study in six pilot areas of England found that vaccinating an estimated 197,000 primary school age children (an average uptake of 57%) reduced the healthcare burden of flu compared with non-pilot areas:7

 

  • 94% reduction in GP consultations for influenza-like illness
  • 74% reduction in emergency attendances due to respiratory symptoms
  • 93% reduction in confirmed flu hospital admissions

 

The UK is a global leader in vaccinations and the first country worldwide to implement a childhood influenza national immunisation programme free of charge to all children.8

RSV is a major respiratory virus that circulates during the winter months. While many people experience very mild symptoms, infants under the age of one and older adults are at risk of more severe disease.9

 

RSV is the most common cause of lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), including bronchiolitis and pneumonia, in infants under the age of one.10 RSV is also a leading cause of hospitalisation, with approximately 30,000 children under the age of five hospitalised in the UK each year.9

 

Vaccinations and immune therapies can reduce the risk of infants developing severe RSV infection.

Complementing our vaccines approach, we are advancing research efforts into the potential of monoclonal antibodies to provide protection to the immunocompromised. People in the UK who are immunocompromised currently have limited pharmaceutical options beyond vaccination and remain at risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 if infected.11-16

hMPV is a viral infection that can cause upper and lower respiratory tract disease.17,18 While otherwise healthy adults experience mild symptoms with hMPV the virus can be more severe for young children, older adults and people with chronic conditions.17-19

 

As an hMPV infection progresses, it can lead to bronchiolitis or viral pneumonia.18

 

While other respiratory viruses, like flu and RSV, are relatively well understood, less is known about hMPV. There are currently no prevention or treatment options for hMPV.20

Additional resources

Share Good Times Not Flu

Share Good Times Not Flu is an AstraZeneca UK funded resource to help parents and caregivers learn more about the childhood influenza national immunisation programme. For more details, please visit: https://www.sharegoodtimesnotflu.co.uk/

RSV Aware

RSV Aware is an AstraZeneca UK funded resource to help parents and caregivers learn more about RSV. For more details, please visit: https://www.rsvaware.co.uk/

Valuing Vaccines

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has a number of resources on the impact of vaccinations on people's health, the economy and society. AstraZeneca supports the ABPI through unrestricted grant funding and was not involved in the creation or review of these materials. For more details, please visit: https://www.abpi.org.uk/value-and-access/vaccines/

*Modelling conducted to quantify the public health impact of vaccination since the inception of the World Health Organization’s Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in 1974 to make life-saving vaccines available to all globally. The model considered coverage of all routine and supplementary vaccines delivered since 1974 and estimated the mortality and morbidity averted for each age cohort relative to a hypothetical scenario of no historical vaccination, then modelling these outcomes to estimate the contribution of vaccination to globally declining infant and child mortality rates over this period.

  1. World Health Organization. A brief history of vaccines. Accessed March 2025. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/history-of-vaccination/a-brief-history-of-vaccination.
  2. Oxford Vaccine Group. The Global Value of Vaccination. Accessed March 2025. Available at: https://www.ovg.ox.ac.uk/news/the-global-value-of-vaccination#:~:text=Vaccination%20is%20the%20most%20effective,are%20falling%20in%20some%20countries.
  3. Shattock AJ, et al. Contribution of vaccination to improved survival and health: modelling 50 years of the Expanded Programme on Immunization. The Lancet. 2024;403 (10441):2307-16.
  4. Uyeki TM, et al. Influenza. The Lancet. 2022:400 (10353):693-706.
  5. Willis, Preen, Richmond et al. The impact of influenza infection on young children, their family and the health care system. Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2018;13(11):18-27.
  6. Endo A, Uchida M, Kucharski AJ, Funk S. Fine-scale family structure shapes influenza transmission risk in households: Insights from primary schools in Matsumoto city, 2014/15. PLoS Comput Biol.2019;15(12):e1007589. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007589
  7. Pebody RG, et al. Uptake and impact of vaccinating school age children against influenza during a season with circulation of drifted influenza A and B strains, England, 2014/15. Eurosurveillance. 2015;20(39):pii=30029. doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2015.20.39.30029.
  8. UK Government. Flu vaccination programme extended to all children. Accessed January 2025. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/flu-vaccination-programme-extended-to-all-children.
  9. UKHSA. What is RSV and is there a vaccine? Accessed March 2025. Available at: https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2024/07/17/what-is-rsv-and-is-there-a-vaccine/#:~:text=Respiratory%20syncytial%20virus%20(RSV)%20is,within%202%20to%203%20weeks.
  10. CDC. About RSV. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/rsv/about/index.html. Accessed June 2025.
  11. Evans RA, et al. Impact of COVID-19 on Immunocompromised Populations during the Omicron Era: Insights from the Observational Population-Based INFORM Study. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe. 2023;0(0):100747. doi:10.1016/J.LANEPE.2023.100747.
  12. Dube S. Continued Increased Risk of COVID-19 Hospitalisation and Death in Immunocompromised Individuals Despite Receipt of ≥4 Vaccine Doses: Updated 2023 Results from INFORM, a Retrospective Health Database Study in England. Poster P0409 at ECCMID 2024.
  13. Turtle L, et al. Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis Are at High Risk for COVID-19 Hospitalisation and Death Despite High Rates of Vaccination: Results from the England INFORM Study. Oral Presentation at ECCMID 2024.
  14. Meeraus W. High Prevalence of Immunocompromising Conditions Among Patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Infection, Including SARS-CoV-2: Results from a Multicentre, Test-Negative Case Control Study. Abstract #01796 at ECCMID 2024.
  15. Meeraus W. Immunocompromise, Cancer and Other Comorbidities in Patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Infection Testing Positive Versus Negative for SARS-CoV-2: A Post Hoc Analysis of COVIDRIVE Data from May 2021 to May 2023. Abstract #01800 at ECCMID 2024.
  16. Ketkar A et al. Assessing the Risk and Costs of COVID-19 in Immunocompromised Populations in a Large United States Commercial Insurance Health Plan: The EPOCH-US Study. Curr Med Res Opin. 2023. 39 (8):1103-1118.
  17. Pritt BS & Aubry MC. Histopathology of viral infections of the lung. Seminars in Diagnostic Pathology. 2017.34:510-517.
  18. Uddin S, & Thomas M. Human Metapneumovirus. [Updated 2023] In: StatPearls [Internet] Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; Accessed March 2025. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560910/
  19. Shafagati N and Williams J. Human metapneumovirus - what we know now [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]. F1000Research 2018, 7(F1000 Faculty Rev):135. doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.12625.1
  20. CDC. About Human Metapneumovirus. [Internet]. 2024 [Accessed 09 October 2024]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/human-metapneumovirus/about/index.html

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About this site

This website is intended for people seeking information on AstraZeneca's UK business. We also have a Global and other country sites; click the links in 'Other AstraZeneca websites' for the directory.

 
GB-69529 | DOP: August 2025
 

© AstraZeneca 2023