Medics welcome GSK deal to provide meningitis B vaccine

Patient groups and medics have welcomed an agreement between the government and GlaxoSmithKline to make Britain the first country in the world to provide routine vaccination against meningitis B.

The deal comes less than a month after GSK, the UK's largest drugmaker, completed the acquisition of the Bexsero vaccine against the potentially deadly disease from Novartis of Switzerland.

The Department of Health had been wrangling with Novartis over price since receiving advice from independent experts a year ago that the vaccine should be given to all babies over two months old through the National Health Service.

The delay had angered meningitis charities but on Sunday they praised the agreement. Steve Dayman, founder of Meningitis Now, said: "I've waited 33 years since losing my baby to the same strain to hear this . . . news. So many lives and much misery will be spared."

Meningitis B is the most common cause of childhood death by infectious disease and is most common in under fives. Teenagers are also vulnerable. There are almost 2,000 cases in the UK each year and one in 10 is fatal, while survivors are often left with serious disabilities.

Jeremy Hunt, health secretary, said he was "very proud" that the UK would be the first country with a nationwide vaccination programme for the infection. Although it was "disappointing" the deal had taken so long, it was important to agree a price that was cost-effective for the NHS.

In its recommendation last year, the Joint Vaccine Committee on Vaccine and Immunisation, which advises the government, said Bexsero "only demonstrated cost-effectiveness at a low price" and that it should be introduced through "a sustainable and cost-effective programme".

GSK said it had "moved rapidly to conclude negotiations" since inheriting Bexsero as part of its acquisition of Novartis's vaccines business.

No price details were given but the company said: "We believe the agreement we have reached offers fair value for the NHS and allows a reasonable return for GSK to ensure that we can continue to invest in creating new treatments and vaccines."

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Matthew Snape, consultant in paediatrics and vaccinology at Oxford university, said it should also protect against a newly emergent meningitis W strain that is causing particularly severe infections.

Bexsero is the only meningitis B vaccine licensed in Britain. Its potential to be added to nationwide immunisation programmes across Europe and beyond was part of the appeal of Novartis's vaccines business to GSK. The deal, part of a broader asset swap between the two companies, cemented GSK's position as the world's biggest producer of vaccines.

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