Novartis wins Wellcome Trust grant for typhoid vaccine research
Novartis has been awarded a grant from the Wellcome Trust to develop a bivalent vaccine for typhoid, a disease that affects more than 21 million people worldwide every year.
Novartis has been awarded a grant from the Wellcome Trust to develop a bivalent vaccine for typhoid, a disease that affects more than 21 million people worldwide every year.
The Novartis Vaccines Institute for Global Health (NVGH) in Siena, Italy will use the Euro 5.15m grant to fund preclinical development and Phase I and II studies for a vaccine that protects against both S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi A.
The currently available vaccines for S. Typhi do not protect infants and young children. S. Paratyphi A is a growing problem causing 25-50% of all typhoid cases.
Dr Daniel Vasella, chairman and ceo of Novartis said: "The bivalent vaccine being developed by NVGH will use a novel approach to increase efficacy and address the needs of patients that other vaccines have not. This will ultimately have the potential to eradicate this disease."
The NVGH opened in 2008 to focus on vaccines for diseases of the developing world. In addition to using prior experience in r&d for the development of conjugate vaccines targeting Salmonella, NVGH research will build upon a promising prototype conjugate vaccine developed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NVGH aims to have a product ready for clinical trials by the end of 2010.
The Wellcome Trust will provide expert advice and project support.
"This initiative is a welcome and important contribution to the fight against infection," said Dr Ted Bianco, director of technology transfer at the Wellcome Trust.
"The concept of developing a vaccine that can protect against both causative agents of typhoid fever makes great sense from a public health perspective, but requires a team of great skill to bring to fruition. I wish the NVGH team every success in this exciting endeavour."
