Breakthroughs Blog: Vaccines

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 tested a promising new malaria vaccination strategy that aims to boost immunity through bites from mosquitoes carrying a genetically engineered version of the malaria parasite, which could pave the way for improved malaria vaccines. There are two approved vaccines for malaria, but they are only about 75 percent effective and require booster shots. In a trial, researchers exposed participants to bites from mosquitoes that had a version of the malaria parasite that was genetically modified to stop developing after delivery into a human, finding that nearly 90 percent of participants exposed to the modified parasites avoided contracting the disease after being bitten. The next step will be a larger trial to confirm this strategy as a viable candidate to advance malaria control efforts.A new study found that vaccines for diarrhea could reduce bacteria-associated diarrhea and antibiotic use among young children in low- and middle-income countries, which could also help reduce the emergence of antimicrobial resistance due to antibiotic overuse in low-resource settings where cases of diarrheal disease are most common. The research team used data from a previously published study exploring enteric infections and diarrheal illness in children in low- and middle-income countries and generated simulations to estimate the hypothetical impact of nine vaccine scenarios, including six single-pathogen vaccines and three combination vaccines. They found that, compared to the other single-pathogen vaccines, a vaccine against Shigella could cause the greatest reduction in antibiotic courses, and an adenovirus-norovirus-rotavirus vaccine could cause the greatest reductions in antibiotic use compared to the other combination vaccines.Last week, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced $1.46 million in funding for PATH to develop antibody reagents for developing vaccines against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS. Antibody reagents are critical for measuring and analyzing a vaccine’s potency and ability to induce an immune response. PATH will lead efforts to develop and test reagents, as well as collaborate with the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development to select and scale up a SARS-CoV-1-specific antibody to ensure these reagents are available globally, particularly in low and middle-income countries. The project aims to strengthen global health security by allowing researchers and manufacturers the tools to develop and scale up vaccines quickly in the face of an outbreak or new variant.

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 new, first-of-its-kind trial will assess the safety and immunogenicity of Bavarian Nordic’s MVA-BN mpox vaccine in pregnant and breastfeeding women and infants under two years old, two populations at risk of severe complications from mpox but not currently eligible for vaccination. MVA-BN is the only vaccine for mpox prequalified by the World Health Organization and is currently approved for healthy adults and adolescents, but additional data from this trial could help expand access for additional key populations amid the ongoing mpox outbreak. The trial, which will start early next year, is jointly funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Global Health EDCTP3.Researchers from the University of Glasgow have developed a new drug that could help combat the spread of treatment-resistant malaria, as the disease continues to kill more than 600,000 people every year and Plasmodium falciparum, a mosquito vector that spreads malaria, grows increasingly resistant to artemisinin, the frontline malaria treatment. The drug, adapted from a cancer treatment approach, works by permanently disabling a protein that P. falciparum uses to duplicate itself in humans. The researchers behind the drug think it could be more effective than current drugs at all stages of malaria infection, potentially with only one dose.A research team from the University of California, Santa Barbara has found a way to potentially reduce the spread of mosquito-borne diseases by disrupting male mosquitoes’ ability to hear, which is essential for them to mate and breed. Male mosquitoes rely on the sound of female mosquitoes’ wingbeats in order to find and mate with them. By altering a genetic pathway that male mosquitoes use for hearing, the researchers were able to stop them mating entirely, preventing female mosquitoes, the ones that spread diseases to humans, from having babies and reducing overall mosquito populations. Specifically, the researchers studied Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which spread diseases including dengue, yellow fever, and Zika.

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. Last week, scientists in Rwanda and partners from the World Health Organization launched the world’s first clinical trial testing a treatment for the deadly Marburg virus amid the ongoing outbreak in the country. There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines against Marburg virus, although a clinical trial of Sabin Vaccine Institute’s investigational vaccine is currently underway in Rwanda. The new trial will investigate the safety and efficacy of remdesivir and the monoclonal antibody MBP091, developed by Mapp Biopharmaceutical with support from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.  At the recent G7 Joint Finance and Health Ministers’ Meeting, the Italian government announced a $21 million commitment over the next three years to the Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) to accelerate the development of innovative products to prevent, diagnose, and treat drug-resistant bacterial infections. AMR is a growing public health crisis, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, and there is an urgent need for international collaboration and investment to revitalize an inadequate clinical pipeline and ensure new antimicrobials, antimicrobial alternatives, and diagnostics are available for patients worldwide.Valneva and LimmaTech announced last week that their Shigella4V (S4V) vaccine has been awarded Fast Track designation by the US Food and Drug Administration. There are no approved vaccines for the Shigella bacteria, which causes shigellosis, the second leading cause of fatal diarrheal disease globally, particularly among children in low- and middle-income countries. S4V is the world’s most clinically advanced tetravalent bioconjugate vaccine for shigellosis. This designation will enable accelerated clinical development and review of the vaccine, which will be investigated in two Phase 2 trials that are expected to begin before the end of 2024.

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. Recently published results from a Phase 3 clinical trial support Pfizer and Abbvie’s aztreonam-avibactam as a potential treatment for patients with serious gram-negative bacterial infections and limited treatment options. Aztreonam-avibactam is a combination of two antibiotic drugs that work together to effectively fight off tricky bacteria resistant to nearly all currently available antibiotics. The treatment was approved in April by the European Medicines Agency based on the results of two previous Phase 3 clinical trials that investigated the treatment's efficacy in treating several types of multidrug-resistant infections.Last week, TB Alliance announced the award of a $7.35 million four-year grant from the US Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs for the research and development of host-directed approaches for treating tuberculosis (TB). Host-directed approaches, which target the immune response of the host (the infected person) rather than directly targeting the bacteria, could reduce the likelihood of the emergence of drug resistance and, in combination with new TB drugs, could offer shorter and less long and burdensome treatment regimens for those with drug-resistance and drug-sensitive TB. Specifically, the project will work toward preclinical proof-of-concept for at least one novel adjunct TB host-directed therapy and one therapeutic vaccine.At the HIV Research for Prevention Conference last week, the Population Council announced the results of a Phase 1 trial conducted in South Africa, which suggest that the three-month dapivirine vaginal ring for HIV prevention will be as effective as the one-month ring. The three-month dapivirine vaginal ring, a flexible silicon ring self-inserted into the vagina that slowly releases an antiretroviral drug to prevent HIV infection, was found to deliver the drug at higher levels than the one-month ring. If the longer-acting ring continues to demonstrate success in future trials, it could offer a more cost-effective and convenient option for women—it is expected to reduce the cost per user by 60 percent.