wSp vaccine (Serum Life Sciences)

The wSp vaccine is an inactivated whole-cell vaccine developed by Serum Life Science Europe GmbH, a subsidiary of the Serum Institute of India, for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and pneumococcal-induced acute otitis media (AOM). Unlike traditional pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) that target specific capsular polysaccharides, the wSp vaccine utilizes a killed, non-encapsulated strain of *Streptococcus pneumoniae*. This approach is designed to expose the immune system to a broad array of conserved surface proteins that are common across various serotypes, theoretically providing serotype-independent protection. This strategy aims to address the limitation of serotype replacement observed with current polysaccharide-based vaccines. The vaccine is currently undergoing Phase 1 clinical evaluation to assess its safety and tolerability in healthy adults.

Other names

Inactivated whole-cell Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccineStreptococcus pneumoniae whole-cell vaccinew-Sp vaccine