Honoring: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Bio Farma; Cevaxin; US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Fighting Infectious Diseases in Emerging Countries; US Food and Drug Administration; icddr,b; Intravacc; London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine’s Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia; PATH; UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency; UNICEF; University of Antwerp; University of California, San Francisco; World Health Organization; and all partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Polio is a devastating infectious disease that can lead to permanent paralysis or death among those affected. Thanks to global vaccination efforts, the number of worldwide polio cases has dropped by 99 percent since 1988. The first-generation oral polio vaccine was a key tool in driving this progress; it prevents person-to-person transmission and is affordable and easily delivered. However, in rare cases, this vaccine, which is made from a weakened form of the virus, can lead to outbreaks of vaccine-derived polio in communities with low immunization coverage. Because the world has achieved such stunning success in reducing polio, these variant cases today outnumber wild polio cases, posing a significant barrier to eradication.
To address this challenge, a constellation of global partners came together to develop the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2), a next-generation oral vaccine that offers the same advantages as its predecessor but has been engineered to be less likely to cause variant cases. In 2020, nOPV2 became the first-ever vaccine to be authorized for emergency use by the World Health Organization, and since then, more than a billion doses have been delivered to children in high-risk settings. nOPV2 is a testament to the power of global partnerships and a groundbreaking innovation bringing us closer to a polio-free world.
Photo credit: WHO/Faiz Abubakr
It has been immensely rewarding for PATH to have played a role in advancing nOPV2 from a research candidate to a commercial product. Generating real-world impact through our work is the reason we do what we do. Accelerating progress toward polio eradication goals with an improved vaccine has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Dr. John Konz
Global Head,Viral Diseases, PATH
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.
Dr. Ananda Bandyopadhyay
Deputy Director of Technology, Research, and Analytics, Polio Team, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
