Working closely with the New Zealand Ministry of Health and drawing upon earlier work at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Novartis scientists developed and manufactured the MeNZB vaccine to combat an epidemic caused by a specific strain of meningococcal B disease that gripped New Zealand for more than a decade.
Data from the campaign showed that MeNZB has an 80% efficacy rate in preventing cases of meningococcal B disease. Before the epidemic began in 1991, New Zealand saw an average of 50 cases of meningococcal disease from all meningococcus strains each year. During the epidemic, that number grew to approximately 400 cases each year, with 80 of every 100 cases caused by the epidemic strain.
Over the course of the epidemic, meningococcal disease has struck more than 5,900 New Zealanders, killing 239 and leaving more than 1,000 permanently disabled. A staggered roll-out of the vaccine targeted highest-risk populations first, such as indigenous Maori and Pacific communities in the country’s northern region, and reduced cases of the epidemic strain in these groups by 90% and 70%, respectively, over the duration of the campaign.
Experts on meningococcal disease met in late July 2006 to discuss the results of the campaign and concluded that the MeNZB vaccine had been effective. The group included prominent independent scientists and clinicians from several countries, as well as leaders from the New Zealand Ministry of Health and Novartis. This peer review followed rigorous examination by an independent safety monitoring board during the campaign itself.
“Looking forward, we are hopeful that our genome-derived vaccine for multiple strains of meningococcus B, which represents the first successful application of genomic information in vaccines development, will bring much wider protection worldwide,” commented Rino Rappuoli, global head of research for Novartis Vaccines.