Universal flu vaccine enters phase 1 trial

A flu vaccine designed to protect against a different strain of virus — and eliminate the annual flu vaccine guessing game — has entered phase 1 clinical trials.

A new vaccine candidate, designed to fight avian influenza or bird flu viruses, has been administered to healthy adult volunteers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, the NIH announced.

Researchers have long sought a universal flu vaccine to fight a rapidly mutating virus — not only to cover our base each flu season but also potentially pre-empt the next pandemic flu strain.

“Influenza vaccines that can provide long-term protection against a variety of seasonal influenza viruses as well as those with pandemic potential would be an invaluable public health tool,” said President Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Chief Medical Advisor.

A new universal flu vaccine candidate is entering human trials to test its safety and immune response.

Moving targets: With fears of the covid variant causing Greek letters to proliferate like Pledge Week, the ability of the virus to mutate and evade vaccines, antivirals and our immune systems is really a major concern.

But as quickly as SARS-CoV-2 progressed, it was a walker compared to more rapidly mutating viruses such as the very fast HIV and influenza a perennial public health scourge.

This is why getting your flu shot is an annual affair. Currently, not a single punch is durable.

Each year, researchers have to track flu strains like fashion week, spot trends and put forward their best guess as to what the vaccine should target. Get it right, and flu season is a manageable affair; wrong, and tens of thousands of people could die.

Once considered a bit of gratification, the universal flu vaccine has become the biggest and most shining brass ring in the field, one hit to set it all up.

New flu vaccine targets, such as viral stalks and anchors, are more stable than rapidly mutating heads, offering broader and longer-lasting immunity.

“Influenza vaccines that can provide long-term protection against a variety of seasonal influenza viruses as well as those with pandemic potential will be an invaluable public health tool.”

Anthony Fauci

New trial: This latest phase 1 trial is designed to test the safety of the new vaccine, called BPL-1357, as well as its “immunogenicity” – its ability to trigger an appropriate immune response.

The study was placebo-controlled, with 100 volunteers, aged 18 to 55 years. Each volunteer will receive two doses of the vaccine or a placebo at an interval of 28 days, either as an intramuscular injection or a nasal spray.

Volunteers will return to the clinic seven more times to provide blood and mucus samples to measure their immune response — including mucosal immunity, which may be key to preventing the spread of respiratory viruses by strengthening our defenses right on the front lines, in the nose.

“With the BPL-1357 vaccine, especially when administered intranasally, we are trying to induce a comprehensive immune response that is very similar to the immunity acquired after natural influenza infection,” said NIAID lead investigator Matthew J. Memoli.

“This is very different from almost all other vaccines for influenza or other respiratory viruses, which focus on inducing immunity to a single viral antigen and often do not induce mucosal immunity.”

The study will also study how important mucosal immunity to flu is, Memoli said.

The vaccine is a “whole virus” vaccine, combining four strains of low-risk avian influenza viruses that have been killed, similar to how current flu vaccines are made.

Vaccine: BPL-1357 was developed by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) researchers. The vaccine is a “whole virus” vaccine, combining four strains of low-risk avian influenza viruses that have been killed, similar to how current flu vaccines are made.

The avian influenza strain was chosen because all “human influenza A viruses ultimately originate from the wild avian viral pool,” NIH senior researcher Jeffrey K. Taubenberger told Medical News Today.

The researchers selected their candidate based on what subtype causes the most infections in humans and is considered a major pandemic threat, providing multiple targets for possible threats in an effort to “hopefully maximize the development of broad protective immunity,” Taubenberger said.

In previous animal experiments, mice that received two doses of BPL-1357 either as an injection or a spray were protected from lethal doses of six different influenza viruses.

That includes a subtype not specifically covered by the vaccine – suggesting that it provokes strong cross-immunity. Another trial on ferrets — a better model for humans — had similar results, the NIH said.

In previous animal experiments, mice that received two doses of BPL-1357 either as an injection or a spray were protected from lethal doses of six different influenza viruses, with the same results for ferrets, a better model for humans.

Although not designed to know if BPL-1357 is that Universal flu vaccine experts have hoped this is another step in the right direction.

“The scientific community is making progress on this urgent global health priority,” Fauci said.

“The candidate influenza vaccine BPL-1357 being tested in this clinical trial is performing very well in pre-clinical studies and we look forward to studying how it performs in humans.”

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