COUNTRIES COLLABORATE TO ADVANCE PNEUMOCOCCAL VACCINE

Italy, Norway, Russia, the UK, Canada and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have donated $1.5 billion to launch the first advance market commitment (AMC) to help speed the development of a new vaccine for pneumococcal disease, a major cause of pneumonia and meningitis that kills 1.6 million people every year.

The pilot AMC will test a new model for spurring the development of vaccines to prevent disease strains prevalent in developing countries. The pilot will provide seven to 10 years of funding to support the development of future vaccines against pneumococcal disease and will include provisions to assure the long-term sustainable supply and price for the poorest countries. Vaccines will be purchased only if they meet predetermined standards of efficacy and safety, and if developing countries ask for them.

The Geneva-based GAVI Alliance, which will be partly responsible for supporting the programmatic and financial functions of the AMC, noted that an early version of a pneumococcal vaccine is being widely used in developed countries. However, manufacturers lack the capacity to provide a vaccine to the developing world on a large scale.

British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline said its pneumococcal vaccine candidate, which is in late-stage development, targets prevailing pneumococcal strains. It includes three serotypes that are not contained in any currently available pneumococcal vaccine, the company said. And, these particular serotypes maybe associated with a higher risk of hospitalization, severe pneumonias and meningitis outbreaks in Africa. The company expects to submit its vaccine to regulatory authorities by end of the year.