Cheap vaccine attacks meningitis

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The new vaccine is expected to block infection by the serogroup A meningococcus. (Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images)

Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP) has released data suggesting a new low-cost meningitis vaccine will be far more effective in protecting African children than anything else on the market. MVP, a partnership between the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Seattle-based non-profit, PATH, is collaborating with a vaccine producer, Serum Institute of India Limited (SIIL), to produce the new vaccine against serogroup A Neisseria meningitidis (meningococcus).

The preliminary results of their study, a Phase 2 vaccine trial, reveal that the vaccine could eventually slash the incidence of epidemics in the ‘meningitis belt,' as 21 affected nations of sub-Saharan Africa are collectively known.

The vaccine is expected to block infection by the serogroup A meningococcus, and therefore extend protection to the entire population, including the unvaccinated, a phenomenon known as ‘herd immunity.'

"When it becomes part of the public health arsenal, this vaccine will make a real difference in Africa," said Dr. F. Marc LaForce, MVP director. "The vaccine will allow elimination of the meningococcal epidemics that have afflicted the continent for more than 100 years."

The new meningococcal conjugate vaccine trial, in 12- to 23-month-olds in Mali and The Gambia, shows that the vaccine was safe, and that it produced antibody levels almost 20 times higher than those obtained with the marketed polysaccharide (un-conjugated) vaccine.

This means that protection from serogroup A meningococcal meningitis is expected to last for several years. "Elimination of these epidemics with wide use of the meningococcal A conjugate vaccine is now a likely possibility over the next few years," said LaForce.

"People between the ages of 1 and 29 years of age will be protected by receiving a single dose in large mass vaccination campaigns. The large campaigns are expected to create herd immunity, and eventually, elimination of the disease," he continued.

As a result of the encouraging preliminary findings of this Phase 2 clinical study, SIIL and MVP will proceed with a Phase 2/3 study where the vaccine will be tested in 2- to 29-year-olds - the population that will be mostly targeted by mass vaccination campaigns. Testing is set to take place in Mali, The Gambia, and at least one other African country.

An additional clinical study is planned for this summer in India, where the vaccine will be licensed. "Serum Institute of India is dedicated to developing safe, effective, and affordable products for the poorest countries in the world," said Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla, chairman of Serum Institute of India Limited. "These results confirm and extend the observations made last year in our Phase 1 study in India. The new conjugate vaccine has an excellent safety profile in young children, and it is immunologically superior to the polysaccharide vaccine."

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