Korean firm EuBiologics secures WHO prequalification for typhoid vaccine, eyes UNICEF supply

EuBiologics, known for providing oral cholera vaccines to low-income markets, achieved WHO prequalification for its typhoid conjugate vaccine EuTYPH-C, marking the first WHO-PQ product supported by the Research Investment for Global Health Technology (RIGHT) Foundation. Executives Lee Min-won of the RIGHT Foundation and CEO Baik Yeong-ok said the prequalification opens the path to public-sector procurement such as UNICEF, which they hope to secure for 4-5 million doses in the latter half of next year.

The vaccine's phase-3 trial was funded jointly by the RIGHT Foundation and EuBiologics, with additional durability studies underway in Senegal. Although Indian firms currently dominate the WHO-PQ typhoid market, EuBiologics intends to compete on price and will seek a Korean export license for a single-dose vial around October and a WHO variation in November. The company also has a meningococcal vaccine in phase 3 and is developing a combined cholera-typhoid vaccine to broaden its global health portfolio.