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News & Trends - Pharmaceuticals

Sanofi’s meningococcal vaccine enters National Immunisation Program amid market disruption

Health Industry Hub | July 1, 2024 |

Pharma News: Sanofi’s meningococcal vaccine, MenQuadfi, will soon be available for free to adolescents as part of the National Immunisation Program (NIP). This move places MenQuadfi in direct competition with Pfizer’s Nimenrix, both designed to protect against the serogroups A, C, W, and Y.

Approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in October 2020, MenQuadfi is only now being funded through the NIP for all adolescents aged 14 to 16 years and for those aged 15 to 19 years who may have missed their scheduled vaccination at school.

Dr Iris Depaz, Head of Medical, Vaccines at Sanofi Australia, emphasised the importance of this program, stating, “Meningococcal disease can occur at any age and progress rapidly, but young people are especially vulnerable. The tragedy of young people being severely disabled by meningococcal disease makes the role of the NIP adolescent program all the more important.”

Meanwhile, Pfizer is seeking to disrupt the market with its new vaccine, Penbraya, a combination of Trumenba and Nimenrix that protects against the serogroups A, B, C, W, and Y. Penbraya is currently under TGA evaluation.

Additionally, GSK is close behind with its MenABCWY vaccine, which has shown promise in studies. GSK’s research compared the 5-in-1 meningococcal vaccine to the combination of Bexsero and Menveo, finding it noninferior in people aged 10 to 25 years across all five targeted serotypes. A separate arm of the trial demonstrated the MenABCWY candidate’s effectiveness against a panel of 110 meningococcal serogroup B strains.

Community pharmacies offer convenient access to missed NIP vaccinations at no cost, including MenQuadfi, through the NIP Vaccinations in Pharmacy (NIPVIP) Program.

Dr Depaz added, “Community pharmacists and nurses going into schools are on the frontline in providing adolescents with protection against this serious and sometimes deadly disease.”

In line with Sanofi’s sustainability commitment, the eco-friendly packaging of MenQuadfi is both plastic-free and fully recyclable. The traditional paper leaflets have been replaced with a QR code to minimise environmental impact.

Sanofi aims to further reduce its ecological footprint by removing blister packs from all vaccine packaging by 2027.

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