Novartis' Menveo is first vaccine to protect against four types of meningococcal meningitis

ZURICH, Switzerland New data suggests Novartis’ Menveo, the first quadrivalent vaccine for meningococcal meningitis, can be effective in protecting infants, according to published reports.

An upcoming article in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that Menveo has been shown to generate protection against meningococcal serogroups A, C, W-135 and Y. The Phase 2 trial involved 421 infants from the United Kingdom and Canada, and Novartis says that the vaccine generated protective immune responses and was well tolerated.

According to Novartis, no currently available quadrivalent vaccine including Sanofi Pasteur’s Menomune and Menactra “has demonstrated a strong and lasting immune response” to invasive meningococcal disease, an acute, contagious and potentially fatal disease that causes sepsis and meningitis. Each year, approximately 500,000 cases occur around the world, causing about 50,000 deaths, Novartis said.

Menveo is currently in multiple Phase 3 clinical trials involving infants, young children, adolescents and adults. Novartis said it is hoping to file the vaccine for regulatory approval in the European Union and the United States in 2008.