Multi-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for global health: From problem to platform to production

ABSTRACT

Childhood bacterial meningitis and pneumonia represent leading causes of mortality, with the latter persisting as one of the top causes of mortality for children under 5 y of age. The prohibitive costs of developing and producing broader spectrum conjugate vaccines impact availability and affordability, resulting in a barrier to health equity and access to disease preventing vaccines, which restrict global health disease prevention efforts. Inventprise was founded in response to the need for innovation that can help reduce disease burden with improved coverage and more affordable vaccines. Inventprise 25-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine candidate with the patented Hz-PEG-Hz linker technology platform is expected to provide the broadest coverage against pathogenic pneumococcal serotypes encountered by populations regardless of where they live. The innovative automation technology and tightly controlled manufacturing requirements were implemented to mitigate the high capital cost for constructing a manufacturing facility in the United States, in addition to the prohibitive cost for the workforce required for running a complex plant.

KEYWORDS:

• Pneumococcus
• pneumococcal conjugate vaccine
• vaccine development
• GAVI
• Gates Foundation
• Inventprise

Acknowledgment

This work was supported, in whole or in part, by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation [INV-005088]. The authors wish to acknowledge the editorial and scientific writing assistance provided by Stephanie Perniciaro, PhD, MPH.

Disclosure statement

All authors are employees of Inventprise, Inc.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work is based on research funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation under Grants [INV-005088].