BioCentury
ARTICLE | Strategy

Lining up the acellular pertussis competition

November 4, 1996 8:00 AM UTC

WASHINGTON - Beyond the immediate spotlight put on North American Vaccine Inc.'s Certiva acellular pertussis vaccine, last week's meeting of the FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee focused attention on the coming competition between similar vaccines manufactured by several companies.

The impetus for development of these products, which are combined with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids to form a DTaP vaccine, has come from the relatively high incidence of adverse effects associated with whole-cell vaccines. The side-effects have caused some countries to abandon universal vaccination programs and has limited compliance in other countries. Acellular pertussis vaccines include only the parts of the bacterium believed to induce immunity to whooping cough. The greater purity is believed to be responsible for the lower incidence of adverse effects compared to whole-cell vaccines. ...