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Blue Water Vaccines Announces Plans to Evaluate Efficacy of Streptococcus pneumoniae Vaccine Candidate Against Pneumococcal Pneumonia at the World Vaccine Congress in Barcelona
CINCINNATI, Oct. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blue Water Vaccines Inc. (“BWV” or “Blue Water Vaccines” or the “Company”), a biopharmaceutical company
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[{"type":"text","content":"CINCINNATI, Oct. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blue Water Vaccines Inc. (“BWV” or “Blue Water Vaccines” or the “Company”), a biopharmaceutical company developing transformational vaccines to address significant global health challenges, today announced plans to investigate the ability of BWV-201, a Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccine candidate for acute otitis media (“AOM”) prevention, to also protect against non-invasive pneumococcal pneumonia at the World Vaccine Congress in Barcelona. While Streptococcus pneumoniae is commonly found in the nose and throat of healthy individuals, overgrowth and spread of the bacteria can result in pneumococcal disease. Non-invasive forms of pneumococcal disease include AOM, sinusitis, and pneumococcal pneumonia, while invasive forms include bacteremia, sepsis, and pneumococcal meningitis. BWV’s new development plan aims to assess the efficacy of BWV-201 in protecting individuals against non-invasive pneumococcal pneumonia. BWV-201 is a live attenuated bacterial vaccine candidate developed for the prevention of AOM in children caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. New data, based on experiments at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, suggests that BWV-201 may also provide protection against pneumococcal pneumonia by limiting the ability of Streptococcus pneumoniae to infect the lungs. While conjugate and polysaccharide vaccines are available to protect against pneumococcal disease, protection is mainly limited to invasive disease. Efficacy rates of these vaccines against pneumococcal pneumonia are historically only between 0% and 50%, as these vaccines are administered intramuscularly and elicit a strong systemic response, but poor protection at the mucosal surface where pneumonia infection begins. Additionally, these vaccines only provide protection against serotypes included in the vaccine, ranging from 13 to 23 serotypes. By administering the modified live bacteria intranasally, BWV-201 is designed to elicit a strong mucosal immune response, regardless of capsular polysaccharide serotype. “While current pneumococcal vaccines have demonstrated excellent efficacy against invasive pneumococcal disease historically, pneumococcal pneumonia remains a significant unmet medical need,” said Joseph Hernandez, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Water Vaccines. “With this new data, we believe our ...