Wellcome Trust gives €5.15M to fund Novartis vaccine project

The Novartis Vaccines Institute for Global Health (NVGH), a not-for-profit arm of the pharmaceutical company, has been awarded a grant from the UK medical charity the Wellcome Trust to develop a bivalent vaccine for typhoid fever, a disease that affects more than 21 million people worldwide every year.

The €5.15 million grant will fund preclinical development and Phase I and II studies for a vaccine that protects against both S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi A, two very similar illnesses which, if left untreated, can result in complications and death. The currently available vaccines for S. Typhi do not protect infants and young children. S. Paratyphi A is a growing problem causing 25-50 per cent of all typhoid cases.

“With more than 21 million cases of typhoid fever worldwide and more than 600,000 deaths each year, this disease is a serious global health issue, especially in the developing world,” said Daniel Vasella, Chairman and CEO of Novartis. “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.”

NVGH was set up in Siena, Italy, in 2008 to focus on vaccines for diseases of the developing world. In addition to drawing on prior experience in R&D for the development of conjugate vaccines targeting Salmonella, NVGH research is building upon a promising prototype conjugate vaccine developed by the US National Institutes of Health. NVGH aims to have a product ready for clinical trials by the end of 2010.

Ted Bianco, Director of Technology Transfer at the Wellcome Trust, said, “Partnerships between public and private sector research give us the best chance of effectively addressing the R&D needs of neglected diseases. 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”.