The FDA licensed Menactra vaccine in January for use among 11 through 55 year olds. Sanofi Pasteur has now filed a supplemental application with the FDA to amend the vaccine’s license to include children aged two through 10 years.
Menactra vaccine is the world’s first quadrivalent conjugate vaccine licensed for the prevention of meningococcal disease and is designed to offer protection against four serogroups of Neisseria meningitidis, the bacterium that causes meningococcal infection.
“The additional age indication would help protect a younger segment of the population against a serious and devastating disease,” said Dr Michael Decker, vice president of scientific and medical affairs at Sanofi Pasteur. “At the same time, it has the potential benefit of increasing meningococcal immunization rates because the two to 10 age group generally are seen by a pediatrician on a regular basis for the recommended schedule of childhood vaccinations.”