Newswise — August 1, 2013 – Neptune, NJ – Mark Martens, M.D., chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, announces that the hospital is participating in a clinical study to evaluate the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of an investigational vaccine for the prevention of primary symptomatic Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). Clostridium difficile (C. diff) is a potentially life-threatening, spore-forming bacterium that causes intestinal disease. While most types of health care-associated infections (HAIs) are declining, C. diff is emerging as a leading cause of life-threatening, HAIs worldwide.

In 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted fast-track designation to the investigational C. diff vaccine candidate being developed by Sanofi Pasteur. The fast-track program of the FDA is designed to facilitate the development and expedite the review of new investigational drugs and vaccines that are intended to treat or prevent serious or life-threatening conditions and demonstrate the potential to address unmet medical needs.

For more information about the Cdiffense Phase III clinical trial at Jersey Shore, please contact LaShawn Jenkins at 732-776-2953 or [email protected].

About Jersey Shore University Medical Center:Jersey Shore University Medical Center, a member of the Meridian Health family, is a not-for-profit teaching hospital and home to K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital – the first children’s hospital in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Jersey Shore is the regional provider of cardiac surgery, a program which has been ranked among the best in the Northeast, and is home to the only trauma center and stroke rescue center in the region. Jersey Shore University Medical Center specializes in cardiovascular care, orthopedics and rehabilitation, cancer care, neuroscience, nerve surgery and women’s specialty services. Through the hospital’s clinical research program, and its affiliation with Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Jersey Shore serves as an academic center dedicated to advancing medical knowledge, training future physicians and providing the community with access to promising medical breakthroughs. For more information about Jersey Shore University Medical Center call 1-800-DOCTORS, or visit www.JerseyShoreUniversityMedicalCenter.com