Vaccine maker, Serum Institute of India’s (SII) multivalent meningococcal meningitis vaccine received World Health Organisation (WHO) prequalification. MenFive is the first conjugate vaccine to protect against the five predominant causes of meningococcal meningitis in Africa.
This was a key step forward in protecting African meningitis belt countries from deadly and debilitating meningitis epidemics, SII said. The vaccine has been designed to eliminate annual meningitis outbreaks and epidemics in the African meningitis belt—a string of 26 countries from Senegal and The Gambia in the west to Ethiopia in the east. The WHO prequalification allows MenFive to be procured by United Nations agencies and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance. MenFive is a much-required medical intervention that will be available at an extremely affordable price, Rajeev Dhere, executive director, SII said.
Adar Poonawalla, CEO, SII said, “MenFive is a game-changer vaccine developed through a powerful 13-year collaboration between SII, PATH, and vital support from the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, in the fight against meningococcal meningitis in Africa”. As the first conjugate vaccine, MenFive offers hope for a future free from annual outbreaks and epidemics in the African meningitis belt and pave the way towards a healthier Africa, saving countless lives, Poonawalla said. PATH is a global nonprofit dedicated to health equity.
MenFive protects against meningococcal serogroups A, C, W, Y, and X. It is also the only vaccine that prevents meningitis caused by meningococcal group X, a pathogen increasingly implicated in meningitis outbreaks in Africa.
Meningococcal meningitis is a bacterial infection that sets in rapidly and can kill within hours. It can cause severe brain damage and sepsis leading to limb amputation and is fatal in 50% of cases if untreated. Anyone can contract meningococcal meningitis but children under age five—especially infants—are likely to suffer the most severe effects.
Polysaccharide vaccines have traditionally been used in response to African meningitis epidemics, but they only provide short-term protection. Conjugate vaccines provide better, longer-lasting protection against meningococcal disease. Multivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccines available in the global market were unaffordable for meningitis belt countries.
MenFive is designed to prevent not just death from meningitis, but also disability in survivors. It also provided indirect herd protection to unvaccinated people by reducing the meningococci bacteria in the nose and throat that is key to transmission.
SIIs said discussions were currently underway among WHO, its partners, and affected countries as to the most effective strategy for controlling meningococcal meningitis with MenFive through a combination of proactive vaccination campaigns and as a replacement for older vaccines in the routine immunization schedule.