ACIP votes to simplify meningococcal B vaccine recommendations
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Key takeaways:
- A CDC committee voted to “harmonize” recommendations for two serogroup B meningococcal vaccines.
- The committee and its work group will discuss and vote on a pentavalent meningococcal vaccine next year.
A CDC advisory committee on Thursday voted unanimously to “harmonize” serogroup B meningococcal vaccine recommendations for healthy adolescents and young adults and children who have a higher risk for infection.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to recommend a two-shot series for healthy adolescents and young adults aged 16 to 23 years given 6 months apart and a three-dose series for high-risk children aged 10 years or older given over the course of 6 months for MenB-4C, branded by GSK as Bexsero. These match the recommendations for MenB-FHbp, Pfizer’s Trumenba vaccine.
The vote followed the FDA’s approval in August of new dosing schedules for MenB-4C, which are based on risk and shared clinical decision-making, according to the CDC.
CDC Director Mandy K. Cohen, MD, MPH, will need to sign off the committee’s recommendation for it to become official.
"I think that it's important to harmonize, and I think that probably the most logical thing would be to ... keep the two harmonized, and then to wait for subsequent data to come in," ACIP member Helen Y. Chu, MD, MPH, FIDSA, professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Washington, said during Thursday's meeting.
In addition to MenB vaccines, there are two other types of meningococcal vaccines: quadrivalent vaccines covering serogroups A, C, W and Y (MenACWY), and Pfizer’s pentavalent vaccine, Penbraya, which covers all five (MenABCWY). MenABCWY was approved by the FDA for people aged 10 to 25 years and recommended by the CDC last year when MenACWY and MenB vaccines are indicated at the same time.
In addition to the new dosing schedule for MenB-4C, the ACIP discussed potential recommendations for GSK’s pentavalent vaccine, which is under review by the FDA. The ACIP is scheduled to discuss and possibly vote to recommend the vaccine in February. (The FDA action date for approval is Feb. 14, 2025.)
References:
- CDC. Advisory committee on immunization practices (ACIP): Next ACIP meeting: Anticipated votes. https://www.cdc.gov/acip/meetings/upcoming.html. Published Oct. 7, 2024. Accessed Oct. 24, 2024.
- CDC. Meningococcal disease: About meningococcal disease. https://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/about/index.html. Published Feb. 1, 2024. Accessed Oct. 24, 2024.
- CDC. Meningococcal disease: Meningococcal vaccine recommendations. https://www.cdc.gov/meningococcal/hcp/vaccine-recommendations/index.html. Published Oct. 24, 2024. Accessed Oct. 24, 2024.
- FDA. August 19, 2024. Approval letter – Bexsero. https://www.fda.gov/media/181099/download?attachment. Published Aug. 19, 2024. Accessed Oct. 25, 2024.
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