Development of MenFive®, an affordable pentavalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine (ACYWX) for Africa and beyond

Abstract

Wide use of the groundbreaking vaccine MenAfriVac® has eliminated serogroup A meningococcal meningitis in the African meningitis belt and paved the way for elimination of all meningococcal disease outbreaks with the development, licensure, and introduction of an affordable multivalent conjugate vaccine that covers all disease-causing serogroups in the region. With supportive funding from the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the global public health nonprofit PATH, and the Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. extended their collaboration on MenAfriVac to develop, license, and World Health Organization prequalify MenFive®, an ACWYX meningococcal conjugate vaccine. The task of developing a low-priced, strongly immunogenic, pentavalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine required multiple collaborators and complex coordination, with numerous challenges and lessons learned. Importantly, MenFive has the potential to eliminate meningococcal disease outbreaks—not only in Africa (with recent deployment of outbreak response during the 2024 and 2025 meningitis seasons) but also in other regions of the world.