South African
manufacturer Biovac Institute (Biovac) and PATH, an international health
organization, have announced the launch of a collaborative partnership to
develop a novel vaccine against Group B Streptococcus (GBS), a
leading cause of severe infection in infants.
Supported by a
grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the partnership was
announced at the Innovation Effect Africa symposium held
alongside the World Economic Forum event in Durban.
Biovac, a
public-private partnership based in Cape Town, will be one of only three
companies in the world and the only developing-country vaccine manufacturer to
develop a novel conjugate vaccine against GBS.
GBS is a leading
cause of severe infection in newborns and young infants in many countries,
including South Africa. In fact, the estimated incidence of invasive GBS
disease in South Africa is among the highest, with 2.38 cases per 1,000 live
births.
Whilst people of
all ages can contract the GBS bacterial infection, newborns are more
susceptible and vulnerable to this potentially deadly infection—particularly as
an estimated 1 in 4 pregnant women carries the GBS bacterium, which can be
passed to babies during birth.
In parts of the developing world, mortality
rates can reach as high as 38 percent. Babies who survive the disease are often
left with lifelong disabilities such as deafness, blindness, and developmental
delays. GBS may also play a role in miscarriage and stillbirth.
Preventative
antibiotic treatment given to mothers before birth can successfully prevent
early-onset GBS in newborns, but this option is not available in most
resource-limited countries—and it doesn’t always protect against late-onset
GBS, which can occur in the weeks or months following birth without any clear
cause. .
A vaccine
against GBS would be revolutionary in that it would be given to pregnant
mothers who would pass on the protective antibodies to their babies, ensuring
protection at birth and during the first critical months of life (when
late-onset GBS disease is a risk).
No licensed
vaccines currently exist to protect against GBS infection. A GBS vaccine
designed specifically for low-resource countries could provide a chance for all
babies to get a healthy start in life.
“Biovac has
demonstrated the ability to successfully partner with leading multinational
companies in vaccine manufacture. This recent collaboration with PATH and the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation further adds to Biovac being the partner of
choice in human vaccines in Africa and fulfills our quest to not only being a
manufacturer but a true developer of novel vaccines aimed at African and developing-world
diseases,” said Dr. Morena ‘Makhoana, CEO of Biovac.
PATH has one of
the world’s largest vaccine portfolios, with expertise covering the full
spectrum of activities needed to reach those most at risk from
vaccine-preventable diseases. That includes preclinical work and clinical
trials in low-resource settings to build evidence of a vaccine’s effectiveness.
“A vaccine against GBS could
provide newborn babies with needed protection against a serious and
life-threatening disease for which they are at risk during the first months of
life,” said Dr. Mark Alderson, director of PATH’s GBS, polyvalent
meningococcal, and pneumococcal vaccine projects.
“Our partnership with
Biovac—an up-and-coming vaccine development company based in South
Africa—reflects our goal to serve the people most affected by this devastating
disease and deliver a vaccine where it is most needed.”
“The first few weeks of a baby’s life
are by far the most critical—newborns are more susceptible to infection because
they haven’t yet developed immunity and many infections occur too early to be
prevented by vaccination of the infant; infections can, however, be prevented
if mothers are protected by immunizations and then provide their babies with
natural antibodies,” said Dr. Keith Klugman, director of the pneumonia team at
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “The Gates Foundation is proud to
partner with PATH and Biovac on our first grant to an African company to
develop a Group B Streptococcus vaccine specifically designed to protect mothers
and babies in sub-Saharan countries where the disease is most prevalent.”
