could it replace Prevnar?
The EMEA has accepted for review GlaxoSmithKline’s Synflorix (Pneumococcal Haemophilus influenzae protein D conjugate vaccine, formerly Streptorix), a ten-valent vaccine designed to protect children against both invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and bacterial respiratory infections such as acute otitis media (AOM). The majority of the ten Streptococcus pneumoniaes erotypes included in Synflorix are conjugated to the immunologically-active carrier protein D, which induces joint protection against non-typeable H. influenzae (NTHI) and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Synflorix offers protection against S. pneumoniae serotypes 4, 6B, 9V, 14, 18C, 19F and 23F, plus three serotypes (1, 5, 7F) that have been associated with severe pneumococcal disease and increased hospitalisation rates in children aged less than five years; interestingly, these three serotypes are not included in the currently-approved US pneumococcal vaccine, Wyeth’s Prevnar (pneumococcal 7-valent conjugate vaccine). Although a
