Breakthroughs Blog: Antimicrobial resistance

Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email.A study published last week found that an experimental influenza vaccine that uses messenger RNA (mRNA) technology protected against all known flu subtypes in animals. If found to be successful in humans, the universal vaccine, which would serve as a supplement to annual flu shots, could prepare the immune system to better respond to new flu viruses, reducing the likelihood of severe disease and death. These promising results come after years of efforts to develop a universal flu vaccine. While human trials are expected to begin soon, challenges including potential low tolerability of the mRNA vaccine will need to be addressed before the candidate can progress.A recently published study estimated that approximately 7.7 million people were killed by bacterial pathogens in 2019—the second leading cause of death globally that year. More than half of these deaths resulted from five pathogens: Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. While the highest mortality rates occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, disproportionately high burdens are present throughout low- and middle-income countries, which could be linked to inadequate access to effective antimicrobials (which exist for all the bacteria investigated in the study), among other structural challenges. Despite the high burden of deaths associated with bacterial pathogens, they receive much less funding and attention compared to other diseases. These data underline the need for greater investment into a variety of interventions and innovations, including vaccine candidates, that can address drug-resistant bacterial pathogens.A recent study determined that an antibody (DH1017.IgM) found in pregnant women who were infected with Zika but did not pass the virus to their fetuses can protect mice from the virus and suppress it to an undetectable state in their blood. The study, which began during the 2015 Brazilian Zika outbreak, could lead to the use of the antibody as a therapeutic agent and prophylactic to protect at-risk patients during an outbreak. The research team is working next to discover whether the antibody can prevent transmission from pregnant mice to their offspring and hoping to progress to human trials that include pregnant individuals who are often excluded from drug trials. Preclinical research into other vaccine candidates for Zika are also underway.

Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email.President Biden signed an executive order establishing a new national biomanufacturing initiative and pledging more than US$2 billion to fund building or expanding drug manufacturing facilities and ensuring an adequate supply of raw materials. The Biden administration’s goal is to strengthen the biotech supply chain and maintain US competitiveness with foreign manufacturers in the wake of major supply chain challenges and shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. $40 million of the pledge will go toward expanding the production of antibiotics and the base materials needed to produce products for future pandemic responses.A new study looking at antimicrobial resistance (AMR) records from laboratories in 14 African countries found that the basic requirements for testing for drug-resistant pathogens are unmet in most areas despite plans to tackle antimicrobial resistance on the continent. The researchers found that only 1.3 percent of the 50,000 medical laboratories included in the study were conducting bacteriology testing. Of those laboratories that were, even fewer were equipped to test for AMR and among those who were testing for AMR, only a third of the high-priority antibiotic-resistant pathogens designated by the World Health Organizations were being tested consistently. The study highlights larger challenges in Africa including limited access to antibiotics, imperfect use of antibiotics, and a lack of information about the impact of AMR because of incomplete and fragmented data.The smallpox treatment tecovirimat, or TPOXX, is undergoing a phase 3 clinical trial to test efficacy in treating monkeypox after preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed some alleviation of symptoms in patients. The trial is being run by the AIDS Clinical Trial Group in locations nationwide and will enroll more than 500 people who test positive for monkeypox. The intent is to provide stronger data that federal officials and agencies can use to inform decisions about the use of TPOXX in the national response to monkeypox.

Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. On Wednesday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine for individuals 18 and over, making it the fourth COVID-19 shot recommended by the agency for use in the United States. The Novavax vaccine is also the first authorized protein-based COVID-19 shot, which works by delivering a protein present on the virus’s service, along with a chemical adjuvant that spurs the immune system to recognize it. The new authorization is for a series of two shots, separated by three weeks; it does not cover use of the Novavax vaccine as a booster shot, which the agency will need to evaluate separately. The vaccine must still be recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) before becoming widely available; the United States has acquired 3.2 million doses of the vaccine to be shipped to states once authorized by the CDC director.The National Institutes of Health has launched a clinical trial of an mRNA vaccine candidate to prevent Nipah virus infection, a zoonotic disease with no currently authorized vaccine or treatment. The phase 1 clinical trial will test an mRNA-based vaccine developed by Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to evaluate its safety, tolerability, and ability to generate an immune response in 40 healthy adults. NIAID’s Pandemic Preparedness Plan, published earlier this year, established a framework to study viruses of pandemic potential, like Nipah, and prioritize research on prototype pathogens. The newly launched study is the first clinical trial to use the prototype pathogen approach since the plan’s publication.In a new report, the World Health Organization outlines the pipeline of bacterial vaccine candidates and emphasizes the urgent need to step up investment and research into vaccines that can help combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The analysis is the first to provide detailed analysis of the pipeline of vaccines with potential to address drug resistance from priority pathogens, identifying 61 vaccine candidates in various stages of clinical development and 94 candidates in preclinical development. While highlighting existing vaccines and the promising candidates in late-stage development, the report also notes a critical need to accelerate trials of vaccines to address AMR and makes a case for bolstered investment that can lead to increased global health equity.