Add '22F' and '33F' to 13 serotypes, expand the scope of prevention
![Cho Jae-yong, executive director of MSD Korea's vaccine division, speaks at a press conference commemorating Box NeuVans' domestic approval held at Seoul Square in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 20th. [Picture = Reporter Cho Eun]](/news/photo/202311/145472_137683_5240.jpg)
The pneumococcal protein conjugation vaccine "Box Neubans (15 A)" is expected to be supplied to medical sites within this year and used for all ages.
On the 20th, MSD Korea held a press conference to commemorate Box Neubans' domestic approval and said, "We are closely consulting with the government so that Box Neubans can be supplied to medical sites within this year and used for all ages," adding, "We will continue research and development of vaccines to address the unmet demand for pneumococcal diseases and prevent serotypes that pose a great risk worldwide."
Box Neubans is a pneumococcal protein conjugate vaccine approved in Korea for the first time in 13 years. It has been approved in 59 countries around the world, including the United States, Europe, Japan, Australia, and Korea, and was approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in Korea on the 31st of last month.
In addition to the 13 serotypes (1,3,4,5,6A,6B,7F,9V,14,18C,19A,19F,23F) of the existing preventive vaccine, the scope of prevention was expanded by adding 22F and 33F serotypes identified as serotypes that cause major pneumocococcal diseases.
It can be inoculated for all ages, and can also be used to prevent acute otitis media in infants, children, and adolescents from 6 weeks of age to 17 years of age.
Pneumococcus pneumoniae is one of the main causative agents of invasive diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, and bacteremia. It is transmitted through respiratory droplets to human-to-human contact.
Pneumonia is the third leading cause of death in Korea in 2021 and the first leading cause of death from respiratory infections, and 740,000 infants, children, and adolescents around the world died of pneumonia in 2019.
The domestic pneumococcal vaccine market is worth about 57 billion won to 60 billion won.
Park Soo-eun, a professor of pediatrics at Pusan National University Children's Hospital, said, "A 'serum substitution phenomenon' in which pneumococcal infections increase by serotypes not included in existing vaccines is being reported around the world, and antibiotic resistance is increasing due to the rapid increase in antibiotic use after COVID-19."
Cho Jae-yong, executive director of the vaccine business, said, "Even with the introduction of the pneumococcal vaccine, the incidence rate of serotypes not included in the vaccine is on the rise, and it was necessary to develop vaccines with more serotypes because major serotypes were different for each continent and disease."
[WIKI KOREA=Cho Eun, Reporter]
choeun@wikileaks-kr.org
