A breakthrough in the fight against meningitis: NmCV-5 vaccine superior to MenACWY-D

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that meningitis caused 250,000 deaths in 2019 and developing affordable vaccines that provide broad coverage against strains of meningococcal disease is a key part of its Global Roadmap to defeating the disease. meningitis in 2030.

Supply and affordability issues have limited the use of quadrivalent meningococcal vaccines throughout the “meningitis belt,” a swath of sub-Saharan Africa at high risk of meningococcal and pneumococcal meningitis epidemics. In addition, meningococcus X has appeared with the potential to cause epidemics throughout the meningitis belt, so a vaccine is urgently needed to prevent this strain.

Building on the success of the Meningitis Vaccine Project (which developed MenAfriVac, a meningococcal A vaccine), the Serum Institute of India and PATH developed NmCV-5 with the goal of eliminating meningococcal disease in sub-Saharan Africa.

The phase 3 trial compared the immune response generated by the new pentavalent vaccine NmCV-5 with that of the licensed quadrivalent vaccine MenACWY-D in 1,800 healthy participants aged 2-29 years from Mali and The Gambia.

After 28 days, at all ages, the immune responses generated by a single dose of NmCV-5 were generally superior and a strong immune response was induced against the emerging meningococcal strain X, for which there is currently no licensed vaccine. The trial found no safety concerns.

The study was led by a team that included researchers from the Medical Research Council Unit (MRC) of The Gambia, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), e Bamako researchers (Small).

Thanks to more cost-effective production methods, the vaccine may be made available at a lower cost than existing quadrivalents, thereby overcoming a major hurdle to its widespread availability in the “meningitis belt.” The trial was designed to provide the WHO with the necessary evidence to license the new vaccine for control of future epidemics.

Vaccinations for the trial took place in June 2021. The 1,800 participants were divided into three age groups: 2-10 years, 11-17 and 18-29 years. All the participants were African and 50.7% of the participants were women.