Novel Polio Vaccine Awarded 2024 Innovating for Impact Award

With over 1.1. billion doses already delivered, the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) recently honored the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) development consortium with its 2024 Innovating for Impact Award.

The GHTC awards, issued annually in December, recognize multisectoral partnerships and policymakers helping to transform breakthrough scientific research into lifesaving drugs, diagnostics, vaccines, and other health tools for unmet global health challenges.

Dr. Ananda Bandyopadhyay, Deputy Director of Technology, Research, and Analytics, Polio Team, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, commented in an announcement, "The fight against polio has always been a story of partnerships…So many countries, partners, and people came together to develop this vaccine. This nOPV2 journey is an example of pushing the boundaries of innovation and doing it as a global team."

nOPV2 is derived from the live, infectious virus and has been 'triple-locked' using genetic engineering to prevent it from producing mutations and causing paralysis. As a result, nOPV2 is reported to be more genetically stable than previous oral polio vaccines.

The WHO's SAGE recently recommended that, where feasible, the concomitant use of Inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) and nOPV2 be used for initial poliovirus outbreak response vaccination campaigns.

The IPV has been offered in the U.S. since 2000, while the nOPV2 has been provided in Africa in 2024.

Polio is a very contagious infectious disease that can lead to permanent paralysis. Worldwide polio cases have dropped by 99% since 1988 thanks to global vaccination efforts.