[1] It protects against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B,[1] which is generally used in middle- and low-income countries, where polio vaccine is given separately.
[5] In October 2004, the European Medicines Agency granted marketing approval to the pentavalent vaccine Quintanrix, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.
[11] In May 2010, Crucell N.V. announced a US$110 million award from UNICEF to supply its pentavalent pediatric vaccine Quinvaxem to the developing world.
[12] In November 2010, the public-private consortium GAVI announced that the cost of the pentavalent vaccine for emerging-market countries had dropped below US$3.00 per dose.
[18] Between December 2012 and March 2013 nine deaths were reported in Viet Nam of children who had recently received injections of the pentavalent vaccine Quinvaxem.
[20] After a review of the cases conducted by national experts together with staff from WHO and UNICEF and an independent clinician, no link with vaccination could be identified.
[23] Common versions of pentavalent vaccines include Quinvaxem, Pentavac PFS, Easyfive TT, ComBE Five, Shan5, and Pentabio.