Fuad El-Hibri Blog

Fuad El-Hibri EBS Typhoid Vaccine

Emergent BioSolutions is on the path to finding gold with its typhoid vaccine following positive results in a Phase II trial.

The Maryland-based biopharmaceutical company is developing a single-dose oral drinkable typhoid vaccine aimed to take on Crucell‘s three to four dose oral formulation and Sanofi‘s injectable formulation. The global travellers market was worth $130m (€92m) in 2003, and is expected to increase to $200m by 2014.

According to the company, the typhoid vaccine candidate achieved the study endpoints for safety and immunogenicity with an overall immune response rate of greater than 50 per cent, with 95 per cent confidence.

“We are very pleased to have met the objective of this Phase II study of our typhoid vaccine candidate. This data is encouraging and indicates great promise for what would be the first single-dose, drinkable typhoid vaccine,” Emergent BioSolutions chairman and chief executive Fuad El-Hibri said.

“Typhoid is endemic in many developing countries, putting countless international travellers and families who visit these nations at risk. With typhoid claiming 200,000 lives each year, continued progress in the development of this vaccine is an important milestone in our company’s efforts to protect life.”

The company’s typhoid vaccine candidate is a live, attenuated strain of the Salmonella typhi bacterium designed to eliminate virulence by deletion of two specific genes.