The first vaccine designed solely from genomic information has breezed through phase 2 trials in infants. The vaccine—aimed at bacterial meningitis and developed by Novartis Vaccines in Siena, Italy—is the first produced using 'reverse vaccinology', in which genomic information rather than the organism itself is the starting point for vaccine development. The serogroup B Neisseria meningitidis bacterium causes sepsis and meningitis in children and young adults and remains a significant threat across the world. For the vaccine, five surface antigens were selected from hundreds of candidates from the serogroup B meningococcus (MenB) genome. These appear to protect against 85 strains of MenB.“This is one of the most important vaccine candidates so far identified,” says Muhamed-Khier Taha, of the Pasteur Institute in Paris. The trial, which took place in the UK, demonstrated the safety and tolerability of the recombinant vaccine in babies receiving their first dose at two months, reported researchers at the European Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases annual meeting held in May in Graz, Austria. Phase 3 trials are due to start in 2008. “If this example reaches the market, it will open a big window on the development of other vaccines taking advantage of the genomic era,” says Taha.