Pregnant women need better data to confidently access lifesaving vaccines. We’re improving meningitis vaccine access with a new clinical study of MenFive® in pregnant and breastfeeding women. This study broadens our commitment to maternal health by prioritizing action toward a longstanding knowledge gap. Pregnant women are no less susceptible to disease than non-pregnant people; they should have no less access to lifesaving vaccines.

PATH’s HPV Vaccine Safety, Immunogenicity, and Health Economics (HPV SIHE) project is coming to a close after five years—and it leaves a long list of successes behind. Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, with more than 95 percent of cases resulting from human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. HPV vaccines are highly effective; since their introduction, they have significantly reduced the incidence of HPV infections and precancerous cervical lesions. But although they have been available since 2006, HPV vaccines remain out of reach for many girls and women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)—where about 94 percent of cervical cancer deaths globally occur.

When MenAfriVac® was introduced in Burkina Faso in 2010, we predicted the end of meningococcal meningitis wouldn’t be far behind. It was a bold assertion; for more than a century, the disease had reigned freely in the 26 countries that make up Africa’s meningitis belt, causing debilitating annual epidemics that, at their largest, would claim tens of thousands of lives in a single season. But just three years after introducing MenAfriVac®—which targeted serogroup A meningococcal meningitis, then the most prevalent serogroup (think, “strain”)—disease incidence had dropped by 94 percent in vaccinated areas and today, meningitis A has effectively been eliminated from the meningitis belt.

A study of Africa’s current and planned vaccine manufacturing capacity offers insights into how to target investments and development efforts to promote long-term success.


Africa is largely reliant on other regions of the world for lifesaving vaccines. Currently, only one percent of the vaccines administered in Africa are produced locally; the remaining 99 percent are imported. Such an imbalance in production can contribute to unequal access to needed vaccines and enormous health disparities...

PATH is one of the largest and most innovative players in the field of vaccines for global health. We’re helping to develop vaccines against diseases for which no vaccines exist; we’re advancing better, more affordable versions of ones that do; and we’re using the newest technology to tackle some of the world’s most enduring threats.

Have you heard of Group B Streptococcus (GBS)? Probably not, unless you’re a parent. One American mom hadn’t—until she was routinely screened for it during her last trimester of pregnancy. She found out she was a carrier of the bacterium—which is common and generally benign in adults, but can be deadly for infants. And that can be passed from mother to baby during birth.“I was already worried and anxious, since it was my first pregnancy,” she says. “Finding out I had GBS just added to that, espe...

In a small town in Vietnam’s Khanh Hoa Province, dozens of people helped to change the course of influenza in their country. They held out their arms and clenched their teeth as a small needle pricked their skin and pierced their muscle: an influenza vaccine. They were volunteers in a clinical study to test the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness, a crucial step on the pathway toward licensure and market availability. No one had participated in a clinical study before; many had never even receive...

When Dr. Le Van Be was a child, a young girl in his town contracted rabies. Passed from an infected dog, the virus raced through her body, first bringing fever, headaches, and nausea, then eventually, hallucinations, paralysis, and death.

Home page for PATH's Sustaining Vaccine Manufacturing website. I designed the page and wrote and maintain all the content.

Fact sheet describing PATH’s work to develop a vaccine against Group B Streptococcus.

Fact sheet summarizing the results of a vaccine cost-of-delivery study for policy advisors, public health professionals, and government leaders in Kenya.

Slide deck promoting SVM program to funders, potential partners, manufacturers, and other stakeholders.

Co-author on peer-reviewed publication describing MenFive meningitis vaccine development. I also coordinated the writing, editing, timeline, and co-author communication.

Fact sheet describing PATH’s efforts to advance new and better vaccines against meningococcal meningitis.

Briefing paper detailing the results of a manufacturing capacity landscape assessment for investors, policy makers, African governments, NGOs, and manufacturers.

Project close-out report capturing history and legacy of multi-country influenza vaccine development project for funders, global policymakers, vaccine manufacturers, governments.

New analysis illuminates strengths, gaps, opportunities, and recommendations for building a sustainable vaccine manufacturing ecosystem.

MenFive®, the first conjugate vaccine to protect against the five predominant causes of meningococcal meningitis in Africa, has been prequalified by the World Health Organization (WHO).Developed through a 13-year collaboration between Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. (SIIPL) and PATH, with crucial funding from the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, MenFive® protects against meningococcal serogroups A, C, W, Y, and X and is de...

Detailed results from a Phase 3 study of Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.'s (SIIPL's) NmCV-5 vaccine candidate, a conjugate vaccine designed to protect against meningococcal serogroups A, C, W, Y, and X, were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.Meningococcal meningitis, a type of bacterial meningitis, is one of the most feared diseases in Africa. It is responsible for deadly annual outbreaks and epidemics that have led to tens of thousands of cases and thousands of deaths each yea...

The South Africa–based Biovac Institute (Biovac) and PATH, an international health organization, are pleased to announce the launch of a collaborative partnership to develop a novel vaccine against Group B Streptococcus (GBS), supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The partnership was announced today at the Innovation Effect Africa symposium held alongside the World Economic Forum event in Durban.Biovac, a public-private partnership based...