Research Roundup: Mpox tests, Speedier mRNA vaccines, Underway Lassa vaccine trial
Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC)
Advancing innovation to save lives
TOP NEWS IN R&D
On Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) asked manufacturers to submit mpox diagnostic tests for emergency review in an effort to speed up and broaden access to effective testing amid the mpox emergency on the African continent. WHO has also updated its mpox testing guidance and is working with countries to roll out testing, with 30,000 tests expected to arrive in African countries in the coming weeks. Manufacturers Labcorp and Roche have also said that they are working to increase their mpox testing capacity.
CEPI partners with Afrigen to speed up mRNA vaccine development and access CEPI press release (8/26)
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) will provide $2.05 million to South African biotech company Afrigen Biologics for a proof-of-concept project to investigate whether synthetic DNA could serve as an alternative to the traditional plasmid DNA used for mRNA vaccine development, cutting timelines and costs. The partnership supports the 100 Days Mission of reducing vaccine development timelines to just 100 days after identifying a disease outbreak with pandemic potential. The project could help further optimize mRNA vaccine development—which is already much faster and more flexible than traditional vaccines—in the face of an outbreak, as well as enable local manufacturing of vaccines in Africa, which could help facilitate more equitable access to vaccines.
First-ever Phase 2 Lassa vaccine clinical trial now fully active across West Africa IAVI feature (8/26), features CEPI
Last week, IAVI announced that the first participants at trial sites in Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria had been vaccinated in a clinical trial of IAVI’s Lassa fever candidate. Lassa fever, for which there is limited treatment and no available vaccine, causes an estimated 300,000 cases across West Africa annually, and the threat is expected to grow due to climate change and population growth. The trial, funded by CEPI and designed in consultation with in-country partners, will evaluate the candidate’s safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity at two different dosage levels in adults, including people living with HIV, as well as in adolescents and children two years and older. The trial results are expected in 2025.
NEWS FROM GHTC
Health access groups push Gavi, UNICEF to negotiate fair price of mpox vaccines for equitable rollout Public Citizen statement (8/27)
A Lassa vaccine is urgently needed to save thousands of lives CEPI article (8/27), features IAVI
Eswatini to roll out first women-controlled HIV prevention product International Planned Parenthood Federation press release (8/27), features Population Council
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEK
HIV: How close are we to a vaccine — or a cure? Nature (9/2)
Efforts to reduce antimicrobial resistance in low-resource nations are lagging, survey suggests CIDRAP (8/26)
Philippines to roll out unproven swine fever vaccine SciDevNet (8/23)
Eco-friendly diagnostic tests ‘need global push’ SciDevNet (8/23)
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California, nation’s largest milk producer, discloses possible bird flu outbreaks in three dairy cow herds STAT (8/29)
MPOX R&D ROUNDUP
Emergent's smallpox vaccine picks up FDA nod for mpox as Africa outbreak spreads Fierce Pharma (8/30)
Mpox vaccine efficacy estimated at 80% CIDRAP (8/28)
First-ever delivery of mpox vaccines in Africa outside of clinical trials arrives in Nigeria World Health Organization news article (8/27)
Promising mpox drug fails in trials as virus spreads WIRED (8/27)
Singapore approves Bavarian's mpox vaccine Jynneos Reuters (8/27)
Opinion: To stop mpox from becoming the next pandemic, we must address global vaccine inequities STAT (8/27)
WHO launches plan to contain mpox CIDRAP (8/26)
UPCOMING EVENTS
September 11 Webinar: "Innovations in GPP" Virtual
September 17-18 2024 National Health Research Forum Virtual; Washington, DC
September 19 Webinar: "An introduction to antibiotic research and development (R&D)" Virtual
September 26 UNGA side event on gender-responsive climate policies for health equity New York, New York
October 8-10 Global Forum on TB Vaccines Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
November 13-17 ASTMH Annual Meeting New Orleans, Louisiana
November 18-21 2024 Global Health Landscape Symposium Virtual; Washington, DC
December 5 GHIT R&D Forum 2024 Tokyo, Japan
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