Development, clinical evaluation, and post-licensure impact of RotaTeq, a pentavalent rotavirus vaccine.

Rotavirus gastroenteritis (RVGE) is the leading cause of severe diarrhea in children worldwide. This paper provides an overview of the development, clinical evaluation, and postlicensure impact of RotaTeq™(Rotavirus Vaccine, Live, Oral, Pentavalent, Merck & Co., Inc.

Separation of rotavirus double-layered particles and triple-layered particles by capillary zone electrophoresis.

Cell culture derived rotavirus preparations contain a mixture of double-layered particles (DLPs) and triple-layered particles (TLPs). Characterization of rotavirus vaccine products is important to demonstrate a consistent manufacturing process. A capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method was developed to separate and quantitate rotavirus DLPs and TLPs in cell lysate samples and CsCl-purified vaccine preparations of each of the five reassortant rotavirus vaccine strains (G1, G2, G3, G4 and P1) contained in the pentavalent rotavirus vaccine, RotaTeq.

Citrate-mediated disaggregation of rotavirus particles in RotaTeq vaccine.

For the routine manufacture of live virus vaccines, virus is diluted into a formulation buffer to stabilize it for long-term storage, and to facilitate vaccine administration. The characteristics of this buffer are dependent on the storage temperature of the vaccine, as well as the desired characteristics of the product. The formulation buffer for RotaTeq, Merck's live, pentavalent, oral rotavirus vaccine to prevent rotavirus gastroenteritis was developed as a fully liquid solution that requires no pre-feeding prior to administration, and is stable for 24 months at refrigerated temperatures.