FDA approves CHS-researched vaccine

"We can all take pride that both the scientific discovery that led to this vaccine, as well as the company that manufactures it (Wyeth Lederle Vaccines), are both located here in Rochester," said Richard Insel, an immunologist at CHS. "It's a wonderful marriage that will not only benefit our community, but communities around the world."

Prevenar is the second major FDA-approved vaccine to be developed based on this scientific breakthrough. In the 1980s, researchers at Rochester developed a vaccine for the bacterium Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib), which virtually wiped out the disease that was a leading cause of meningitis in preschoolers. The Hib vaccine--developed by Porter Anderson, David Smith, and Insel--is now administered to all infants in the United States and in many other countries.

Prevenar has vast potential since more than 1 million children die worldwide each year as a result of pneumococcal disease. In addition, the disease, when it affects children, costs the U.S. health care system an estimated $1.5 billion annually.

In the future, even more vaccines could be created using the technology developed at CHS. England has already approved a vaccine for meningococcus and Insel thinks some form of that vaccine will eventually be licensed in the United States.

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