Regular Publication of Final Vaccines May Prevent Pneumonia Resembling Pneumonia An Expanded Production of Drug-Drug Intravenous Antibodies May Increase Intravenous Vaccine Availability Worldwide
Rolling out the Antibody offers additional protection to both the vaccinated patient and to those who receive a high dose that may develop opportunistic infections, such as pneumonia.
UNITED NATIONS, United Nations – With an experimental vaccine candidate poised to provide multidrug-resistant pneumonia in people outside of the developing world, the former vice president, Joe Biden, Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), today announced that the HHS is prepared to begin full production of the vaccine in the latter half of this year and expedite access to the vaccine through the global immunization program (GENIUS) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Pneumonia kills nearly 1 million people worldwide each year, including 170,000 children under the age of five,” said Biden. “By implementing our plan to expand production of the drug-drug intravenous antibodies, we are making it possible to prevent this preventable disease, including by developing vaccines for people exposed to HIV and Ebola. The roll-out of our plan to protect millions of lives is one more example of the tremendous work that the U.S. public health system is capable of doing.”
The vaccine candidate, called T-DM1, or Trimethylamine N-oxide Immunoglobulin 1, aims to provide more protection and wider coverage than current vaccine candidates.
In the newly announced plan, HHS will expand production of T-DM1 by adding two new lots of the drug-drug intravenous antibodies. Since the vaccine is extremely hard to produce (it only produces very small quantities), a specific animal-derived ferret virus was chosen to transmit the antibodies from recipient to recipient.
HHS and the WHO have pledged $7 million to advance this solution and to expedite administration of the vaccine to people around the world. Today’s announcement marks the first step in this planned plan. In addition, the campaign to get T-DM1 for use worldwide will receive over $36 million in funding in FY 2019.
The Department of Health and Human Services expects to complete the full production of the drug-drug IGA in the latter half of this year. The announcement today includes a dedicated funding program for manufacturing and supply of the drug-drug IGA, which is fully expected to be funded.
“Progress on vaccines to fight pneumonia continues to accelerate,” said CDC Director Robert Redfield, M.D. “We know that vaccines save lives, and now the best way to provide the protection that so many people need is by making it easy for people to get these vaccines – including on the streets and in places where they don’t have easy access. This investment by the government of the United States will help to protect the young and old worldwide.”
T-DM1 is a highly effective vaccine against a new hard-to-treat type of pneumonia called MDR-1 or multidrug-resistant pneumonia, which targets people in areas of the world where easy access to vaccines is lacking. Currently, no vaccine is approved for patients who receive the highest dose of the vaccine, and there is no treatment for this deadly disease.
About the Disease
A pneumococcal disease, pneumococcal disease causes lung infections that can be deadly in newborns, young children, people with weakened immune systems, and others. Symptoms can include a number of coughs, swollen and tender lymph nodes, and fever.
The pneumococcal pneumonia is caused by a variety of bacteria, including streptococcus pneumoniae, the bacteria that cause pneumococcal disease. Common types of infections include meningitis, invasive pneumonia, or acute otitis media (infection of the eye).
About the Plan
Since the start of his administration, the former vice president, Joseph Biden, has focused on tackling the largest global health crisis of our time: infectious diseases. The former vice president is also a father who has witnessed the devastation wrought by a child with a recurrent disease that could have been avoided.
The former vice president and former president’s “Leading from Behind” initiative has worked with international organizations and a series of their primary partners to develop a plan that reduces health deficits by over 70 percent in 16 priority countries by 2019. Recent improvements in vaccine production and stocks will enable the administration to implement a program that will expand access to this highly effective vaccine candidate.