Review of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccines in clinical development

Abstract

Diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccines have formed the cornerstone of childhood immunization programs for decades. Historically, these have comprised diphtheria and tetanus toxoids combined with inactivated whole-cell pertussis. More recently, advances have been made with the development of purified acellular pertussis vaccines, with improved reactogenicity profiles, and formulation with additional vaccines such as Haemophilus influenzae type b, hepatitis B virus and inactivated poliovirus. Development is currently focused on maximizing the number of vaccines that can be combined in a single formulation and strategies to provide protection against pertussis before the commencement of routine infant immunization.

Keywords::

• acellular pertussis
• combination
• diphtheria
• Haemophilus influenzae type b
• hepatitis B
• inactivated poliovirus
• tetanus
• vaccine
• whole-cell pertussis

Financial & competing interests disclosure

At the time of writing, Nicholas RE Kitchin was employed as Medical Director of Sanofi Pasteur MSD Ltd., which is jointly owned by sanofi pasteur and Merck and Co. Inc. At the time of publication, Nicholas RE Kitchin is employed by Pfizer, which does not have any products in development in this area. The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.