Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae kills nearly 1 million children before their fifth birthdays each year, mostly in the developing world. Current pneumococcal vaccines provide effective, serotype-specific protection, yet no licensed vaccine today offers broad coverage against all of S. pneumoniae‘s more than 90 serotypes. Although low-income countries are beginning to gain access to these lifesaving vaccines via assistance from global health partnerships, such vaccines are otherwise unaffordable for poorer nations due to the relative complexity and the high costs associated with their development and production. Over the long term, new vaccines are needed that can maximize protection in the developing world and that even the poorest countries can sustainably afford without assistance. To this end, PATH‘s pneumococcal vaccine project is working with public- and private-sector partners to develop safe, affordable and effective vaccines against S. pneumoniae tailored to meet the needs of infants and children in the developing world.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which provides financial support to PATH‘s pneumococcal vaccine project. Particular thanks go to D Holtzman (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Senior Program Officer) as well as to the project‘s Scientific Advisory Board and consultants for providing technical and strategic guidance. Further appreciation goes to the members of PATH‘s pneumococcal vaccine project team, with particular thanks to L Nyari for her role in developing the global access framework for the project.
Financial & competing interest disclosure
JW Boslego is a former employee of Merck Research Laboratories and continues to hold stock and options in that organization. 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.