MenACWY-TT vaccine for active immunization against invasive meningococcal disease

Abstract

Meningococcal disease remains a significant global cause of morbidity and mortality despite the availability of polysaccharide and conjugate vaccines. The implementation of monovalent meningococcal serogroup C vaccine in developed countries has significantly decreased the incidence of meningococcal disease, while the recent introduction of monovalent serogroup A conjugate vaccine in the African meningitis belt aims to reduce the incidence of high endemic disease in this area. Three quadrivalent meningococcal vaccines have already been licensed; a polysaccharide (MenACWY-PS) and two conjugated (MenACWY-DT and MenACWY-CRM) vaccines. An investigational MenACWY-TT vaccine is described in this article. Clinical trials in infants older than 9 months of age, toddlers, children, adolescents and adults have indicated that this vaccine is well tolerated and immunogenic. The inclusion of a spacer molecule coupled with the polysaccharide (for serogroups A and C) and tetanus toxoid as the carrier protein aims to elicit robust immune responses. The tolerability of this vaccine is comparable to that of polysaccharide quadrivalent vaccines and monovalent meningococcal serogroup C vaccines. More importantly, the immunogenicity, antibody persistence and induction of immune memory aim to provide protection to a wide range of susceptible subjects.

Keywords::

• antibody persistence
• bacterial meningitis
• concomitant vaccination
• immune memory
• immunogenicity
• Neisseria meningitidis serogroups
• quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine
• reactogenicity

Financial & competing interests disclosure

V Papaevangelou has received speaker's honoraria from GlaxoSmithKline for talks. GlaxoSmithKline was not involved in the development of this manuscript. Upon request of the journal, GlaxoSmithKline reviewed the manuscript to check for accuracy of the data presented. The authors have 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.