City-based Serum Institute develops meningitis vaccine
Sakaal Times: Pune-based Serum Institute of India Ltd (SIIL) will soon bring out India’s first indigenously developed meningitis vaccine for meningitis. The vaccine, which has completed phase 1, 2 and 2/3 of testing in Africa and India, will be first introduced in Africa in 2010.
Serum Institute additional medical director Dr Prasad Kulkarni said, “A few years ago, we were contacted by Meningitis Vaccine Project, a partnership between World Health Organization and Path, an American NGO, to see if we would be willing to develop and mass manufacture a vaccine at an affordable price for Africa. We accepted the project.”
The meningococcal conjugate vaccine will be better than the currently available polysaccharide vaccines and at US $ 0.50 per dose, will be about half or third of the cost of the polysaccharide vaccines, he said.
Dr Kulkarni said, “The polysaccharide vaccines do not protect infants. They provide protection for 2 to 3 years, do not decrease carriage of the bacteria and do not create herd immunity whereby transmission of bacteria is blocked, extending protection to the unvaccinated.”
On the other hand, conjugate vaccines protect very young children, provide longer-lasting protection for 10 years, decrease bacterial carriage and induce herd immunity, he added.
“An infant study is taking place in Ghana, and we are will launch studies in Africa and India. We hope to introduce the vaccine next year in Africa after Drugs Controller General of India approval and WHO pre-qualification,” he said. In 2008, there was an epidemic in Meghalaya, which spread to Manipur and Assam. Availability of an effective product will enhance public health arsenal.
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