Shingles (Herpes Zoster) Vaccines May 2025
Herpes Zoster, also known as shingles, is a vaccine-preventable disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), which also causes chickenpox, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved shingles vaccines for use according to updated schedules published for May 2025. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) approves various shingles vaccines in over 30 countries. As of 2025, the shingles vaccination market exceeds $2 billion annually.
Shingles Vaccines Approved
Shingrix—GSK's Shingrix is a non-live, adjuvanted recombinant shingles vaccine (zoster) containing the varicella-zoster virus glycoprotein E antigen and the AS01B adjuvant system, a proprietary adjuvant containing QS-21 and MPL with liposomes.
Zostavax - Merck's Zostavax is a live, attenuated varicella-zoster virus (a weakened form of the chickenpox virus) vaccine. According to the U.S. CDC, the zoster vaccine can be administered concurrently with all other live and inactivated vaccines, including those routinely recommended for people 60 or older.
SK bioscience's SKYZoster™ is a live vaccine that attenuates the varicella-zoster virus. SKYZoster was approved in South Korea by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in September 2017.
SINOVAC's live attenuated varicella vaccine, a WHO-prequalified Chinese varicella vaccine, was successfully delivered to the Republic of Türkiye in 2023 and is registered in Lebanon and Kenya.
Shingles Vaccine Candidates 2025
Curevo Vaccine's Amezosvatein (CRV-101) is an adjuvanted subunit shingles vaccine candidate designed to maximize cellular-mediated immunity (CMI) protection by combining the gE protein antigen with our proprietary adjuvant. On January 7, 2024, Curevo announced positive data from a Phase 2 trial of Amezosvatein, head-to-head versus Shingrix, in participants aged 50 and older. There were zero confirmed cases of herpes zoster (shingles) in the amezosvatein arm of participants. On October 16, 2024, the Company announced that Amezosvatein met all primary endpoints in the randomized, active-controlled, and observer-blind Phase 2 trial. On January 13, 2025, the Company announced positive updated immunogenicity and safety data from its 876-patient Phase 2 trial of amezosvatein (CRV-101) compared to Shingrix in participants aged 50 years and older. Based upon these results, Curevo will advance amezosvatein into global Phase 3 trials in 2025. On March 17, 2025, Curevo Vaccine announced the closing of a $110 million Series B round to advance the development of amezosvatein.
BioNTech SE initiated a randomized, controlled, dose-selection Phase 1/2 clinical trial of BNT167 in February 2023. The trial evaluates mRNA vaccine candidates' safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity against shingles.
Jiangsu Recbio Technology Co., Ltd. announced on December 29, 2023, that REC610 is equipped with a novel adjuvant BFA01 independently developed by the Company, which can promote the production of high levels of VZV glycoprotein E (gE)-specific CD4+T cells and antibodies. On December 19, 2022, it received approval from the Philippines FDA to conduct a randomized, observer-blinded, phase I clinical trial. The Interim Analysis results published on December 29, 2023, showed that REC610 demonstrated an overall favorable safety and tolerability profile in healthy participants aged 40 and above after two vaccination doses. REC610 induced strong gE-specific humoral and cellular immune responses, evident after the first vaccination and peaked 30 days after the second vaccination.
Immorna announced on January 9, 2023, that the U.S. FDA cleared its investigational new drug application to conduct a Phase 1 multi-center study of JCXH-105, a self-replicating RNA vaccine against Shingles. Additionally, on May 30, 2023, the Company announced that the first subject had been dosed in its First-In-Human (FIH) Phase 1 multi-center study of JCXH-105.
Dynavax's Z-1018 is an investigational vaccine candidate being developed to prevent shingles in adults aged 50 and older. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the Company completed enrollment in the phase 1/2 trial, and Dynavax anticipates reporting top-line immunogenicity and safety data in the third quarter of 2025.
Shingles Vaccination and Dementia
On April 23, 2025, a study published in JAMA found evidence for a beneficial effect of herpes zoster vaccination in preventing or delaying dementia, which is more likely to be causal than the associations reported in existing correlational evidence. On April 2, 2025, Nature published a study - A natural experiment on the effect of herpes zoster vaccination on dementia - that provides evidence of a dementia-preventing or dementia-delaying effect from zoster vaccination that is less vulnerable to confounding and bias than the existing associational evidence. The journal BMC Public Health published results from a study on October 2, 2023. The study concluded that the zoster vaccine for the prevention of shingles/herpes zoster and the influenza vaccine to prevent influenza were associated with a diminished risk of dementia, with the zoster association appearing more pronounced. A non-peer-reviewed study published on May 25, 2023, reported that shingles vaccinations were associated with a 19.9% lower risk of dementia.
Shingles Vaccination and Cardiovascular Events
A study published in the European Heart Journal in May 2025 shows a 23% lower risk of cardiovascular events in recipients of the shingles vaccine in the 8 years following vaccination. These findings suggest that live zoster vaccination may be beneficial for reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease in the general population.
