Pneumococcal Vaccine Suppliers & Bulk Manufacturers

Available Forms: Injection

Available Strengths: 23-valent, 25 mcg of each polysaccharide per 0.5 mL dose

Reference Brands:

Category: Vaccines

Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (23-valent) protects adults at risk against invasive pneumococcal disease. Each 0.5 mL dose contains 25 mcg of purified capsular polysaccharide from each of 23 serotypes. It is an inactivated vaccine and cannot cause infection.

Product Description:

This pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine supplies purified capsular material from twenty-three pneumococcal serotypes — each dose containing twenty-five micrograms of polysaccharide per serotype. Antibody raised against the capsule enables opsonisation and clearance of the bacterium, which otherwise resists phagocytosis.

It protects against invasive pneumococcal disease — bacteraemia and meningitis — in adults at risk, and is used in people aged sixty-five and over and in younger adults with chronic disease, immunosuppression or asplenia. Evidence for preventing non-invasive pneumonia is weaker than for invasive disease. Because a plain polysaccharide does not recruit T-cell help, it produces no lasting memory, and revaccination intervals are defined rather than open-ended. Many national programmes now use a conjugate vaccine first and the polysaccharide afterwards to combine memory with breadth of serotype coverage.

Sourcing notes. Strength should be expressed as micrograms of each polysaccharide per dose and the number of serotypes stated, since valency is what a buyer compares. Presentation — single-dose prefilled syringe or vial — affects programme cost and wastage. Cold chain at 2 to 8°C, never frozen; freezing destroys the product and is the commonest cold chain failure.