Pentavalent Meningococcal Vaccine Is Safe, Effective

A new pentavalent meningococcal disease vaccine was found to be safe and well tolerated, according to a study presented at IDWeek 2020.

“Vaccination is complicated by different dosing recommendations for serogroup B (MenB) and quadrivalent (MenACWY) vaccines, which could be solved with a single pentavalent vaccine,” the researchers wrote.

They conducted a randomized, controlled, observer-blinded, multicenter study involving vaccine-naïve and vaccine-experienced participants aged 10 to 25 years who were randomly assigned 1:2 to MenABCWY (Month 0,6) or MenB-FHbp (Month 0,6) and MenACWY-CRM (Month 0). The primary endpoint of the study was the percent of individuals achieving 4-fold or greater rises in titers from baseline.

Following the second dose, the reserchers found that a high percentage of patients in the MenABCWY (n=543) and MenB-FHbp (n=1057) groups achieved the primary endpoint against the 4 strains of meningococcal disease, combined (79.9% vs 74.3%). MenABCWY was shown to be noninferior to MenB-Fhbp, as well as to single dose MenACWY-CRM. Adverse reactions were similar between the groups, and mostly mild to moderate in severity.

“MenABCWY 4-fold immune responses from baseline were robust and noninferior to MenB-FHbp and MenACWY-CRM administered separately. Vaccination was safe and well tolerated. The favorable benefit-risk profile supports further MenABCWY development as a simplified alternative to current meningococcal vaccination practices. Funded by Pfizer,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Peterson J, Drazan D, Czajka H, et al. 6 - Pentavalent meningococcal (MenABCWY) vaccine is safe and well tolerated with immunogenicity noninferior to coadministered MenB-FHbp and MenACWY-CRM in a phase 2 study of healthy adolescents and young adults. Talk presented at: IDWeek 2020; October 21-25, 2020; Virtual. https://www.eventscribe.net/2020/IDWeek/fsPopup.asp?efp=VFhWUUpXVFA2ODg4&PosterID=292566&rnd=0.7283668&mode=posterinfo