On April 12, the World Health Organization WHO gave the go-ahead for the manufacture of a new vaccine against cholera. Now immunization in the most vulnerable communities in the world can take off, which will save many lives.
Cholera is preventable but requires a vaccine. The WHO’s decision means that the Euvichol-S vaccine can begin to be produced on a large scale to tackle the deadly disease. The WHO reported 473,000 cholera cases in 2022 (the most recent year for which figures are reported), roughly double the number in 2021. A further increase of 700,000 cases was projected for 2023.
The approval of the new vaccine, which is manufactured by EuBiologicals Co., Ltd in South Korea, means that about 50 million doses are expected to be in the Gavi-funded global stockpile this year, compared to 38 million in 2023.
The announcement means that UNICEF can increase the procurement of the vaccines by over 25 percent, the organization writes on X.
In mid-February 2024, the WHO reported that the global emergency stockpile of cholera vaccine was empty. A shortage of over 50 million doses was then expected in 2024.
Currently, 23 countries report outbreaks of cholera, with the most serious situations in the Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Mozambique, Somalia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Euvichol-S (EuBiologics) is a simpler and cheaper vaccine compared to the three already approved Shanchol (Sanofi), Euvichol, and Euvichol-plus (EUBiologics).
– It contains fewer components, which makes it cheaper to manufacture and can also be manufactured in larger volumes. This brings us closer to the annual need of 70 million doses, says Matti Sällberg, professor of biomedical analysis at Karolinska Institutet to Global Bar Magazine.
A phase 3 clinical study recently published in The Lancet Global Health showed that Euvichol-S showed non-inferiority (that is, not worse) than Shanchol.
– In other words, it is possible to use Euvichol-S with the same results as the other more expensive ones, which provides proof that a cheaper and simpler vaccine can be used with good effect, Matti Sällberg continues.
Tomas Nordberg
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