Vaccine-maker Bharat Biotech said its next-generation typhoid vaccine Typbar-TCV has demonstrated safety and efficacy in a high-risk human challenge clinical study carried out at Oxford University.
Quoting findings from the study published in the journal The Lancet , the company claimed the vaccine produced 87% effectiveness.
The study is said to be the first to demonstrate that immunisation with Typbar-TCV was safe, well tolerated and would have significant impact on disease incidence in typhoid endemic areas that introduce the vaccine, a release from the company said.
The exercise was conducted on 112 adult volunteers, mostly university students, who consumed a drink containing the bacteria post-vaccination.
Unlike the existing vaccines, Typbar-TCV can be administered to children below two years of age and confers long-term immunity, reducing the need for repeat vaccinations.
The vaccine has been awaiting WHO pre-qualification before the UNICEF can procure it for low-income countries where the disease burden is very high.
The Typbar-TCV is currently licensed in India, Nigeria, and Nepal with registrations under way in more than 30 other countries, including Malaysia, Turkey, Thailand, Uganda, Kenya, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, the company informed.
Chairman and managing director of Bharat Biotech, Krishna Ella, said, “The results of this study and the 87% effectiveness success endorse more than 10 years of R&D efforts to develop this vaccine and various clinical trials that have been carried out over the past eight years.” The company has built dedicated facilities for the manufacture of this vaccine, he added.
“Multidrug-resistant Salmonella typhi has become a major public health problem as more people are prescribed antibiotics for even common fever in developing nations,” he said citing the example of drug resistance against typhoid fever found in Hyderabad city of Pakistan.
