Research Roundup: Leishmaniasis vaccine trial, Fast-tracked Ebola vaccines, International TB vaccine partnership

Amid the ongoing outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola—for which there are no specific approved vaccines or therapies—in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, the World Health Organization (WHO) has collaborated with outside experts to identify priority Ebola treatments and vaccines for clinical trials. On the treatment side, WHO recommended prioritizing Mapp Biopharmaceutical’s MBP134, Regeneron’s maftivimab, and Gilead Sciences’ antiviral remdesivir. For prevention, Gilead's experimental oral antiviral obeldesivir was highlighted as a priority for post-exposure use in contacts of confirmed cases. IAVI’s rVSV Bundibugyo was identified as the most promising vaccine candidate, but Oxford University and the Serum Institute of India’s ChAdOx1 Bundibugyo vaccine candidate could be available for testing sooner following additional animal testing. WHO is now working with authorities in Congo and Uganda and other partners to design and implement ethical clinical trials during the outbreak. An experimental drug for chronic hepatitis B could potentially serve as a functional cure for the virus, as demonstrated in recently published results from two international studies. For many, hepatitis B only causes short-term illness, but for some, it can become a chronic infection, gradually damaging the liver and, without treatment, leading to liver cancer, liver failure, or even death—it causes around 1.1 million deaths globally each year. Chronic infection requires lifelong therapy in the form of daily pills to reduce viral levels and prevent liver damage, which can be hard to adhere to or access in some countries. Bepirovirsen, developed by GSK and Ionis Pharmaceuticals, was able to reduce the virus in around one in five patients to levels low enough for the immune system to keep it under control without treatment. The drug is under fast-track review by the US Food and Drug Administration, which is expected to make a decision later this year, and is also being considered by international regulators in Japan, China, and Europe. A research team at Georgia State University has developed a promising antiviral drug candidate that could help treat measles, croup, and related viral diseases that cause contagious and life-threatening respiratory infections, as falling coverage of the vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella raises the risk of infection. The drug, GHP-88310, was designed to be a once-a-day oral pill for vulnerable patent groups, like children and immunocompromised patients, which make up the majority of croup and measles cases. GHP-88310 has been shown to be well-tolerated in rats, mice, ferrets, and dogs at higher concentrations. 

Last week, the Global Health Investment Corporation announced the launch of the Global Health Security Fund, which will strategically invest in companies to accelerate the development of technologies that strengthen global health security. The investments will focus on companies developing vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, and enabling technologies with impact and commercial potential, addressing critical gaps in global health preparedness and response. The fund has received support from the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), as well as investors including the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Flu Lab, Eli Lilly and Company, Meiji Seika Pharma Co., The MITRE Corporation, and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. A research team at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology has shared promising research that could inform the development of a vaccine that provides protection against a host of viruses in the arenavirus family. Arenaviruses, which are most common in West Africa, are considered to be a viral family with significant pandemic potential and are very similar to hantaviruses, the virus family behind a current worrying outbreak, in how they spread and function. The researchers demonstrated how harnessing T cells could be critical to designing vaccines that can combat many different species of virus at once, an approach that could be applied to other viral families as well. BARDA is working with US-based company Mapp Biopharmaceutical to supply its experimental Ebola treatment for potential use in people who may have been exposed in the current outbreak of Bundibugyo ebolavirus, a strain for which there are no specific vaccines or treatments available. Mapp’s investigational monoclonal antibody treatment was developed through a longstanding public-private partnership supported by BARDA to address Ebola Sudan, which is closely related to other ebolaviruses, Laboratory studies suggest the treatment has the potential to be effective against the Bundibugyo strain.