The World Health Organization (WHO) approved on Tuesday, November 19, a vaccine against mpox (monkey pox) manufactured by the Japanese pharmaceutical company KM Biologics for emergency use. This is the second monkeypox serum to receive approval from the UN health agency.
WHO approves second mpox vaccine Photo Shutterstock
The WHO has granted the LC16m8 vaccine permission to be included in the list of emergency uses, which should, according to the organization, “facilitate increased and rapid access to vaccines in communities where mpox outbreaks are multiplying”, writes AFP.
This authorization allows all countries to quickly approve and import a vaccine for distribution.
“The entry on the WHO emergency list of the LC16m8 vaccine against mpox marks an important stage in our response to the current emergency situation, offering a new option to protect all populations, including children”Yukiko Nakatani, WHO’s deputy director-general for access to medicines, said in a statement.
In September 2024, WHO included another mpox vaccine, MVA-BN, in the prequalification stage. And in October, the organization approved the Bavarian Nordic measles vaccine for adolescents aged 12 to 17 years. This age group is considered particularly vulnerable to the spread of the disease.
On August 14, the WHO declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, after a new type of virus spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to neighboring countries.
The WHO has warned that this strain and other strains of smallpox have been reported in 80 countries, including 19 in Africa, since the beginning of this year. The Japanese government has announced its intention to provide the DRC authorities with approximately 3.05 million doses of the LC16m8 vaccine. The Japanese-developed vaccine has been used in Japan during previous mpox epidemics and has been shown to be safe and effective, including in people with HIV.
Monkeypox epidemics in African states are fueled by two different versions of the mpox virus, clade I, which has been circulating for decades, and clade Ib, a new, less studied variant. This is more contagious and more severe. According to the latest WHO figures, more than 50,500 cases of mpox have been identified in Africa this year and more than 1,100 deaths on the continent from the disease.
