Novartis earmarks $500M for new Brazilian vax plant; Hep E vaccine a success in clinical trial;

Vaccine Market

Novartis is planning to invest about a half billion dollars in a new vaccine plant in Brazil. Report

New Jersey has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the U.S., and health officials in the state say they've seen the trend building for years. Story

The World Health Organization has approved the use of Pfizer's Prevnar 13 pediatric vaccine. Estimates sales of the vaccine are projected to hit up to $6 billion by 2016. Report

Emergent BioSolutions named John Niederhuber, M.D. as a Class III Director for a two-year term that will expire at the 2012 annual meeting of stockholders. Emergent release

Ireland is welcoming the arrival of a new vaccine to guard against meningitis. Story

Vaccine Research

Chinese researchers are reporting the success of a new hepatitis E vaccine in a recent clinical trial. They said that even an incomplete dosing regimen appeared to work against the virus. Story

Merck has agreed to buy a dengue vaccine program from Hawaii Biotech for $3.1 million. Hawaii Biotech filed for bankruptcy at the end of last year. Report

Nabi announced the receipt of a patent for treating and preventing nicotine addiction with NicVAX and related nicotine conjugate vaccines. Nabi release