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Review of meningococcal group B vaccines

Dan M Granoff1

  • 1Center for Immunobiology and Vaccine Development, Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, California, USA. dgranoff@chori.org

Clinical Infectious Diseases : an Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
|February 11, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Developing effective vaccines for group B meningococcal disease is challenging due to the capsule being an autoantigen. New vaccine strategies targeting outer-membrane proteins and factor H binding protein show promise for broader protection.

Area of Science:

  • Vaccinology
  • Microbiology
  • Immunology

Background:

  • Group B meningococcal disease is a significant public health concern, causing over 50% of all cases.
  • Current vaccine limitations include the group B capsule's autoantigenicity and the antigenic variability of the PorA protein in outer-membrane vesicle vaccines.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the challenges and advancements in developing vaccines for group B meningococcal disease.
  • To highlight novel vaccine strategies aimed at broadening protection against diverse strains.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing and emerging vaccine technologies for Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B.
  • Analysis of outer-membrane vesicle (OMV) vaccines and recombinant protein vaccines.

Main Results:

  • OMV vaccines have shown safety and efficacy, but responses are often strain-specific due to PorA variability.
  • Strategies to broaden protection include using multi-strain OMV vaccines, PorA variants, or genetically modified OMV vaccines overexpressing antigens like factor H binding protein (fHbp).
  • Recombinant protein vaccines, particularly fHbp-based vaccines, are in late-stage development and may offer broad coverage.

Conclusions:

  • Despite previous challenges, significant progress has been made in developing vaccines for group B meningococcal disease.
  • Emerging vaccine candidates, including those based on fHbp, offer improved prospects for preventing a majority of group B strains.

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