Sanofi Pasteur and the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) announced a strategic partnership to develop a bacterial vaccine against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), also called traveller’s diarrhea.
A press release on the Sanofi Pasteur website states: "ETEC causes nearly 400,000 childhood deaths in the developing world each year and is the predominant cause of infectious gastroenteritis in travelers and deployed military personnel, according to the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH)."
Wayne Pisano, president and CEO of Sanofi Pasteur, says, "We have committed our technical expertise to expedite development of this vaccine for eventual licensure and sales worldwide. This multi-year project will provide a solid basis for launching clinical development. Furthermore, we believe that this vaccine has the potential to curtail the number and severity of food-borne illnesses due to ETEC, and it may also decrease the risk of post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome, which afflicts one in ten who experience travelers’ diarrhea."
ETEC can lead to serious dehydration and shock if not quickly treated. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are 210 million cases of diarrhea each year caused by ETEC.
Illnesses like traveller’s diarrhea affect around 40 to 60% of the 80 million people who travel in developing countries every year.