An investigational UTI vaccine administered to both men and women with recurrent UTIs showed efficacy and a favorable safety profile. According to the investigators, 54% of study participants remained UTI-free for 9 years after the vaccine regimen.

The vaccine, MV140, developed for recurrent UTIs was administered with 2 sprays of a pineapple-flavored suspension under the tongue every day for 3 months. While investigators have previously studied MV140’s short-term safety and effectiveness, this is the first long-term follow-up study.

“Before having the vaccine, all our participants suffered with recurrent UTIs, and for many women, these can be difficult to treat. Nine years after first receiving this new UTI vaccine, around half of participants remained infection free,” Bob Yang, MBBS, FRCS, consultant urologist at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, who co-led the research, said in a statement. “Overall, this vaccine is safe in the long term and our participants reported having fewer UTIs that were less severe. Many of those who did get a UTI told us that simply drinking plenty of water was enough to treat it.”

In terms of the scope of the health issue, UTIs are experienced by half of all women and 1 in 5 men and can be painful and uncomfortable. Recurrent infections, needing short-term antibiotic treatment, develop in between 20% to 30% of cases. With multidrug resistant UTIs now on the rise, novel modalities preventing and treating these infections are needed.

What the Data Showed
In their original trial, participants were initially followed-up for 12 months and data from the women in the cohort was published in BJU International in 2017. For their 9-year follow-up study, the researchers reviewed data from the electronic health records of their original cohort. They interviewed participants about their experience of UTIs since receiving the vaccine and asked them about side effects.

Forty-eight participants remained infection free during the 9-year follow-up. The average infection-free period across the cohort was 54.7 months (4 1/2 years); 56.7 months for women and 44.3 months for men. Forty percent of participants reported having repeat doses of the vaccine after 1 or 2 years.

Participants in the trial were 18 years of age and older and were UTI-free when they were initially offered the vaccine. None of the participants had other urinary abnormalities such as catheters, tumors, or stones. The follow-up study included 72 women and 17 men and outcomes were self-reported.

MV140 was developed by the pharmaceutical company Immunotek, which is based in Spain, and contains 4 bacterial species in a suspension with water. It is available off-license in 26 countries. These results were presented at the at the ongoing European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress in Paris.

Reference
Oral Vaccine for UTI is Potential Alternative to Antibiotics, Finds 9-Year Study. European Association of Urology Press release. April 6, 2024. Accessed April 7, 2024.
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1039942?