What kind of vaccine is Arexvy?

Arexvy is an adjuvanted recombinant subunit vaccine. To break this down:

• Adjuvanted – This means it contains a substance that helps to enhance the effects of the vaccine by boosting the response of the immune system
• Recombinant subunit – This means it is made by taking a small piece of DNA that codes for a specific protein (called an antigen) on the virus (in this case the respiratory syncytial virus [RSV]) and inserting it into bacteria or yeast cells in a laboratory to manufacture the vaccine. The vaccine helps your body's immune system make proteins called antibodies against the virus. These antibodies will help prevent infection by attacking the virus if it ever infects your body.