NOVARTIS COMPLETES VACCINE CAMPAIGN IN NEW ZEALAND

The New Zealand Ministry of Health and Swiss drugmaker Novartis have completed a two-year mass vaccination campaign in New Zealand based on the company's MeNZB vaccine.

Drawing from earlier work with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Novartis scientists developed and manufactured the MeNZB vaccine to combat an epidemic caused by a specific strain of meningococcal B disease that has affected New Zealand for more than a decade.

The vaccination campaign ran from July 2004 through June 2006 following clinical studies and manufacturing scale-up that were completed in approximately three years. Data from the campaign show that MeNZB has an 80 percent efficacy rate in preventing cases of meningococcal B disease. The three-dose vaccination reached approximately 1 million people, from infants to age 20. An estimated 87 percent of those in the target population have started their doses, while 80 percent have completed all three doses. Vaccination of the under-5 population will continue until 2009 or until disease rates warrant concluding immunization activities.