Pharmacy Daily | Menin B vax on sale

Novart is Vaccines’ meningococcal group B vaccine (recombinant, absorbed), Bexsero, is now on sale through private prescription and the company is evaluating options for registration in New Zealand. The company said it had been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for immunisation against disease caused by N.meningitidis group B strains for ages two months and older. It had been recommended by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation for all children and young adults wanting to reduce their risk of meningococcal B, Novartis said. The distributing wholesalers are Team Medical Supplies and Warner & Webster. Bexsero was already in use in Canada, the UK, France and Germany and cost $125 per dose in Australia, with dosing dependent upon age, for instance infants under six months required three doses plus a booster, Novartis said. Immunisation expert at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance Professor Robert Booy said meningococcal B was the most common form of the meningococcal disease, and the new vaccine should cover 76% of the B strains in Australia. “The most effective way to protect Australian children and the broader community against meningococcal disease is vaccination, as we have seen through the success of the national meningococcal C immunisation program, with no new cases of meningococcal C in those under twenty in 2011.” The company was working with the government for National Immunisation Program listing and until then, Bexsero would be available on the private market, Novartis Vaccines ANZ country head Dr Christoph Kaufmann said. “Bexsero will be considered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee for inclusion on the NIP at the July meeting.”

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