Update: GSK vaccine receives AMC approval by Independent Assessment Committee
GENEVA, 7 May 2010 – The AMC Secretariat at the GAVI Alliance is pleased to announce that the Independent Assessment Committee of the Advance Market Commitment (AMC) for pneumococcal disease has approved GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) pneumococcal vaccine Synflorix, in its two dose presentation, as eligible for purchase pursuant to the AMC terms and conditions. The GSK vaccine is the first to be approved by the committee and it could be delivered to the first GAVI eligible country as early as this year. UNICEF is the procurement agency for the AMC and will work with countries to determine the introduction dates. GSK recently committed to annually supply as much as 30 million doses of its vaccine to GAVI countries for a ten-year period. Pfizer has also signed up to supply 30 million doses per year of its Prevenar vaccine. These and other firms can still make offers under the AMC as new calls for supply offers will be issued over time. Panacea Biotec Ltd, and the Serum Institute of India Ltd. have already registered to the programme and other companies have expressed interest. Each year there are more than 14.5 million cases of serious pneumococcal disease and 800,000 deaths among children under five years of age. While the bacterium can also cause serious meningitis, the majority of pneumococcal deaths in Africa (90%) are from pneumonia. In 2007, WHO recommended the introduction of pneumococcal vaccines into all national immunisation programmes, particularly in countries with high child mortality. The lack of access to prompt treatment of pneumonia in Africa emphasises the importance of prevention by immunisation, which reaches more than 80% of the world’s children. |
