A new vaccine against mpox, manufactured by the Japanese pharmaceutical company KM Biologics for emergency use, was approved on Tuesday, November 19, by the World Health Organization (WHO). This is the second to gain agency approval.
The LC16m8 vaccine thus receives authorization from the WHO to appear on the list of emergency uses, which, according to it, should “facilitate increased and rapid access to vaccines in communities where mpox outbreaks are increasing”.
A WHO emergency use authorization allows all countries to quickly approve and import a vaccine for distribution.
“The WHO emergency listing of the LC16m8 mpox vaccine marks an important step in our response to the current emergency, providing a new option to protect all populations, including children”said Yukiko Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General for Access to Medicines, in a statement.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Mpox epidemic: start of vaccination in the DRC as cases multiply
Read later
International emergency situation
In September, the WHO had already prequalified another vaccine against mpox, MVA-BN.
On August 14, the United Nations health agency declared a new international emergency over mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, amid growing concern over a surge in cases of the new Clade 1b strain in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has spread to neighboring countries.
According to the WHO, this and other strains of smallpox have been reported in 80 countries, including 19 in Africa, since the start of the year.
The Japanese government has announced its intention to offer the DRC 3.05 million doses of LC16m8.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers “The mpox epidemic and the multiplication of infectious outbreaks must call into question our ways of inhabiting the Earth”
Read later
