African groups to develop vaccine against B streptococcus

A South Africa-based firm Biovac and PATH, an international health organisation, have announced a partnership to develop new vaccine against Group B streptococcus (GBS), one of the leading causes of infections in infants. Work on the vaccine will be support by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the parties announced at the […]

A South Africa-based firm Biovac and PATH, an international health organisation, have announced a partnership to develop new vaccine against Group B streptococcus (GBS), one of the leading causes of infections in infants.

Work on the vaccine will be support by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the parties announced at the Innovation Effect Africa symposium held alongside the World Economic Forum event in Durban.

The development makes Biovac one of only three companies in the world—and the only manufacturer in the developing world—to make conjugate vaccine against streptococcus.

“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.

No licensed vaccine against the streptococcus bacterium currently exists.

In South Africa alone, streptococcus infection occurs in up to three of every 1,000 live births, among the highest incidences.

Infection with streptococcus can happen in people of all ages, but newborns are more susceptible and vulnerable.

Nearly one out of every four pregnant women carries the bacterium, which can be passed to babies during birth.

Death among infants linked to streptococcus can happen in nearly four in 100 births.

Babies who survive the disease are often left with lifelong disabilities such as deafness, blindness, and developmental delays. [B Streptococcus] may also play a role in miscarriage and stillbirth.

“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.

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.

Chief executive officer of Biovac, Dr. Morena ‘Makhoana, said the partnership gives the institute opportunity to “not only [be] a manufacturer but a true developer of novel vaccines aimed at African and developing-world diseases.”