SubscribeFighting disease in developed and developing countries
The Health Protection Agency (UK) has today announced a collaboration with the Serum Institute of India Ltd to develop a vaccine for the prevention of meningococcal septicaemia and meningitis, which it is hoped will be effective against all forms of the disease and may eventually be used to save children's lives throughout the world.
The Agency's scientists have been working for over a decade on developing a vaccine against the Group B meningococcus. This is because although the meningococcal Group C conjugate vaccine which was introduced into the UK in 1999 has proved to be extremely successful in reducing cases of that disease, there is still no effective vaccine against the Group B strains. The Agency's candidate vaccine which is currently in a phase one clinical trial in the UK uses an organism known as Neisseria lactamica, which is a harmless relative of the pathogenic Neisseria meningitidis bacterium, that causes septicaemia and meningitis, in order to prime the immune system and therefore protect against the disease.
It is aspects of this technology that the Agency has now licensed to the Serum Institute of India. The Institute will combine the components for the B vaccine with the components for the A and C conjugate vaccines which it already makes, as well as conjugates for the Y and W135 strains of the disease in order to produce a pan-meningococcal vaccine which it is hoped will be effective against all the significant bacterial strains of the disease. These different strains occur and cause disease in different parts of the world, so an effective 5-in-1 vaccine would be a significant advance, particularly for healthcare in developing countries. The new vaccine will be manufactured in India and have to undergo clinical trial testing in order to ensure that it is safe and effective before it can be made available
The Serum Institute is already working with both the World Health Organization and the PATH organisation's programme to prevent and ultimately eliminate epidemic Group A meningococcal disease in the African meningitis belt, under the umbrella of the Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunization. Consequently the Serum Institute are ideally placed to develop this new 5-in-1 vaccine and also deliver it at affordable price to the parts of the world where it is needed most.
Welcoming the new project, Chairman of the Health Protection Agency, Sir William Stewart said: "In the fight for better health protection, vaccines are critically important. Group B meningococcus is a particular concern with a global impact and the Agency is delighted to have establish this new collaborative venture."
The Agency's Chief Executive, Professor Pat Troop said: "The collaboration between the Health Protection Agency's scientists and the Serum Institute of India Ltd to develop a universal meningococcal vaccine is most encouraging. This latest development marks the first steps on the road to eliminating all forms of this devastating disease. It represents the culmination of years of work on the part of the Agency's vaccine development team and clearly illustrates the public health benefits that can flow from scientists working in partnership in different organisations across the world."