according to Khalequ Zaman, MBBS, PhD, of the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and associates.
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons/Shobhit Gosain/Creative Commons License
In the first part of the observer-blind, randomized, controlled study, 40 patients aged 5-6 years received either the new vaccine (BBio bOPV) or the licensed vaccine (SII bOPV). In the second part, 1,080 patients aged 6-8 weeks received either BBio bOPV or SII bOPV at age 6, 10, and 14 weeks. Blood samples were taken to assess neutralizing antibody responses against poliovirus types 1 and 3, and safety also was assessed.
In the first part of the study, 12 adverse events were reported, none of which were serious and none of which were related to the vaccines. All participants demonstrated seroprotective titers against both poliovirus types 1 month after vaccination.
In the second part, more than 96% of infants demonstrated seroprotection and seroconversion against both poliovirus types. Geometric mean titers were equivalent in both groups. A total of 387 participants had at least one adverse event, and 18 serious adverse events were reported. None of these were related to the vaccines.
“The BBio bOPV has been proven safe and immunogenic in the target infant population in Bangladesh. As the use of bOPV is expected to be continued until at least 2022, availability of new bOPV bulk manufacturer will be helpful in securing adequate supplies of bOPV for global demand in the polio endgame strategy,” the investigators concluded.
The study was funded by Bilthoven Biologicals. Four coauthors are employed by Bilthoven, manufacturer of the study vaccine; two others are employed by the Serum Institute of India, which provided the control vaccine.
SOURCE: Zaman K et al. Vaccine. 2019 Jun 22. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.06.048.