This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Sci-B-Vac effective in preventing mother-to-child HBV transmission

Issue: May 2014

Add topic to email alerts

Receive an email when new articles are posted on

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .

Subscribe

Added to email alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

Back to Healio

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Back to Healio

LONDON — SciGen Limited’s third-generation hepatitis B vaccine, Sci-B-Vac, was more effective than the recombinant vaccine Engerix-B in protecting newborns against vertical transmission of hepatitis B virus infection, according to interim study results presented at The International Liver Congress 2014.

The Sci-B-Vac vaccine contains all three surface proteins of the HBV derived from mammalian cells compared with a single protein in Engerix-B (GlaxoSmithKline). However, it is not approved for use in the United States.

Israeli researchers compared immunogenicity of the two vaccines in 120 newborns of HBV-positive mothers. The newborns had been passively vaccinated in the delivery room; half with Sci-B-Vac and half with Engerix-B. The researchers collected maternal blood samples at the time of delivery, and the newborns were screened at age 1 year for the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb) and hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb).

All newborns in the Engerix-B group and 28 newborns in the Sci-B-Vac group had reached age 1 year and were tested for hepatitis B. Ten percent of the newborns in the Engerix-B group were HBsAg-positive carriers vs. none of the newborns in the Sci-B-Vac group. HBcAb was detected in 23.3% of the Engerix-B group vs. 14.3% in the Sci-B-Vac group. Titers of HBsAb <10 mIU/mL were found in 13.3% of newborns who received the Engerix-B vaccine vs. 0% of the Sci-B-Vac newborns. Titers of HBsAb between 100 mIU/mL and 1,000 mIU/mL were found in 46.7% of newborns in the Engerix-B group vs. 71.4% in the Sci-B-Vac group, and titers > 100 mIU/mL were found in 61.7% of newborns in the Engerix-B group vs. 82.1% in the Sci-B-Vac group.

“Sci-B-Vac is superior to Engerix-B for preventing HBV vertical transmission, probably due to a faster and higher response,” the researchers wrote, adding that maternal viral analyses of the Sci-B-Vac group are planned.

For more information:

Disclosure: Infectious Disease News could not confirm any relevant disclosures at the time of publication.