Immunogenicity of a recombinant Pre-S2-containing hepatitis B vaccine versus plasma-derived vaccine administered as a booster

GenHevac B Pasteur is a recombinant hepatitis B vaccine derived from a mammalian cell line and containing HBs as well as pre-S2 antigens. Its immunogenicity was compared to that of the plasma-derived vaccine Hevac B Pasteur in a population primovaccinated 5.5 years earlier with four injections of the same plasma vaccine. The booster injection with either GenHevac or Hevac was administered to 295 subjects with residual anti-HBs titres below 500 IU/l (group 1: 0–9; group 2: 10–99; group 3: 100–499 IU/l). After four weeks, GenHevac had induced higher anti-HBs responses than Hevac in all groups, particularly among the low responders of group 1. Response to the vaccine occurred earlier with GenHevac. Mean anti-pre-S2 production was moderate in all groups for both vaccines (GenHevac: 60 IU/l; Hevac: 31 IU/l) and was not found in the 32 subjects who produced less than 100 IU/l anti-HBs. The results of the present study indicate that GenHevac is at least as immunogenic as Hevac.