Safety, immunogenicity, and effectiveness of the MAV/06 varicella vaccine: A comprehensive review of a new strain vaccine

Most of licensed varicella vaccines are based on the Oka strain, while MAV/06 strain vaccines were exclusively developed by GC Biopharma Corp. in South Korea. This paper aims to summarize and present more than 30 y of accumulated evidence from about 40 unpublished and published studies on safety, immunogenicity, and effectiveness of MAV/06 vaccines. The safety of MAV/06 vaccines has been confirmed through various clinical trials and post-marketing studies. Outstanding humoral and cell-mediated immunogenicity of the MAV/06 vaccines has been demonstrated in diverse clinical trials and real-world studies. For example, a seroconversion rate of the MAV/06 vaccine (BARYCELA inj.) was close to 100%. Moreover, several after-approval epidemiological studies in Korean and Filipino children have supported the effectiveness of MAV/06 vaccines, although it remains to be further confirmed in future studies. In terms of safety, immunogenicity, and effectiveness, MAV/06 strain varicella vaccines are comparable to Oka strain vaccines.