Positive vaccine trial results from Novartis, Sanofi Pasteur and LigoCyte presented at IDSA meeting

There was plenty of good news from several vaccine manufacturers yesterday, who presented clinical trial results at the 48th annual meeting of the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) held in Vancouver, Canada.

First off, new Phase III data indicate that Swiss drug major Novartis’ (NOVN: VX) Menveo (meningococcal (Groups A, C, Y and W-135) Oligosaccharide Diphtheria CRM(197) Conjugate Vaccine) demonstrated robust immunogenicity in infants potentially offering protection against four major serogroups of meningococcal disease.

This pivotal trial, including more than 4,500 infants worldwide, met its primary endpoints. Results show that a high percentage of infants vaccinated with four doses achieved robust immune responses against meningococcal serogroups A, C, Y and W-135. Menveo was generally well tolerated when given either alone or co-administered with other pediatric vaccines. According to the company, Menveo has the potential to be the first meningococcal quadrivalent conjugate vaccine that induces high levels of protective antibodies against serogroups A, C, Y and W-135 in infants vaccinated from two months of age. Infants under one year of age are at greatest risk for meningococcal disease and currently no broad-coverage vaccine is licensed for this population.