Glaxo drugs approval

A SHINGLES vaccine produced by UK pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has been approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration.

It agreed tests showed the vaccine was a safe way of preventing the disease in adults aged 50 and over.

The vaccine will be an alternative to Zostavax, developed by Merck. Shingles is caused by the chicken pox virus and leads to the outbreak of a painful, debilitating, blistering rash.

It is more often contracted by older people.

emmanuel Hanon, head of vaccines r&D at GSK said: ‘[It] brings us one step closer to approval of Shingrix, designed to overcome age-related weakening of the immune system.’