Press Release

July 1, 2008

U.S. National Institutes of Health and Vietnamese Ministry of Health Progress Toward Typhoid Vaccine

On July 1, local officials of Thanh Thuy district, Phu Tho province hosted a review conference marking the completion of a landmark clinical trial on typhoid vaccine in infants. Over 15 local communes were represented.

The effort was judged to be a success and will positively affect the preventive vaccine approach to typhoid in Vietnam. This trial is the fifth in a series of 5 typhoid vaccine trials done collaboratively between Vietnamese Ministry of Health and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the Department of Health and Human Services. U.S. Embassy Health Attaché, Dr. Michael Iademarco, stated that this is a remarkable achievement for Vietnam, not only benefiting its people and building long term capacity in vaccine research and development, but a substantial success in the field of immunization that is likely to benefit many others around the world.

Since 1995, NIHE and NIH have been working in various communities studying typhoid vaccination in infants and young children. This latest trial has resulted in the development and assessment of a new advanced typhoid conjugate vaccine, called “Vi-rEPA.” The new vaccine has been demonstrated to be safe and highly efficacious (i.e., 91.5%) in Vietnamese toddlers. In conjunction with previous clinical trials, the NIHE and NIH collaboration also included vaccine technology transfer to Vietnam. As a result, the more traditional Vi typhoid vaccine was licensed in Vietnam in 2005 and is locally produced at IVAC (Institute for Vaccines and Biological Materials, in Nha Trang). Presently, NIH is transferring the new Vi-rEPA conjugate vaccine technology to VABIOTECH, Hanoi, so the vaccine can be manufactured in Vietnam.

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