PATH Launches New Vaccine Development Effort to Prevent Pneumonia, Save One Million Children Per Year

    SEATTLE, Wash., April 3 /PRNewswire/ -- PATH today announced a new program
 aimed at preventing pneumonia, a major childhood illness that causes the
 deaths of up to one million children every year-primarily in developing
 countries. The program will seek a vaccine that is capable of addressing a
 broad range of strains of pneumococcus, a bacterium that causes pneumonia.
 PATH, an international nonprofit organization with over 27 years of global
 health experience, will work with public- and private-sector partners to
 identify and test promising pneumococcal vaccines. The five-year effort is
 supported by a US$75 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
     PATH's pneumococcal vaccine effort builds on work begun in 2005 to produce
 protein-derived vaccines to prevent strains of pneumococcus not addressed by
 existing vaccines. The approach is aimed at identifying proteins that are
 common to most strains of pneumococcus, then systematically testing these in
 the lab. The hypothesis is that a new vaccine or combination of vaccines
 containing "common proteins" could protect against the majority of types of
 pneumococcus. A vaccine that can confer broad immunity holds the potential to
 deliver the most effective protection to children worldwide.
      John Boslego, MD, will lead PATH's pneumococcal vaccine development.
 Boslego joined PATH in February 2006 after leading vaccine development at
 Merck and Co., Inc. Boslego said, "We hope this new effort will encourage as
 many scientists and manufacturers as possible to advance their research toward
 preventing this childhood disease. Pneumonia is a familiar household word, and
 the world can do a lot to prevent childhood deaths, especially in developing
 countries, by coming up with solutions to prevent it." He added, "We are
 hoping to shorten the timeline for getting these vaccines to the areas in
 greatest need."
     Regina Rabinovich, MD, MPH, director of infectious diseases for the Gates
 Foundation, said, "Pneumococcal disease is a major global health problem,
 killing or disabling up to 40 percent of the children who contract it in the
 developing world." She added, "Innovation and collaboration are key to
 developing effective pneumococcal vaccines for global health, and we're
 pleased to support PATH in this critical effort."
     Other partners active in this field include the Pneumococcal Accelerated
 Development and Introduction Plan (PneumoADIP), based at Johns Hopkins
 University, a program of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization
 (GAVI), and other public sector partners, vaccine manufacturers, and academic
 and research institutions.
     The PATH program will be centered on upstream activities, i.e.; working
 from discovery to preclinical testing to clinical trials, with an expectation
 that new and promising vaccines will reach the developing world in the
 shortest amount of time possible.
     The timing of this announcement coincides with a major meeting of
 scientists, pharmaceutical representatives, and other leading experts on
 pneumococcal disease that is taking place in Alice Springs, Australia. World
 experts meeting there are sharing their knowledge and research findings about
 the global epidemiology and burden of pneumococcal disease, and identifying
 tools to prevent and control the disease. Experts plan to announce a call for
 "Development of a Global Action Plan Against Pneumonia" on April 6, 2006.
 
     PATH is an international, nonprofit organization that creates sustainable,
 culturally relevant solutions that enable communities worldwide to break
 longstanding cycles of poor health. PATH works with partners on several new
 vaccine development and introduction programs, including those centered on
 prevention of malaria, rotavirus, Japanese encephalitis, and meningococcal
 meningitis, among other global health priorities. By collaborating with
 diverse public- and private-sector partners, PATH helps provide appropriate
 health technologies and vital strategies that change the way people think and
 act. PATH's work improves global health and well-being. Visit www.path.org.
 
 

SOURCE  PATH