Breakthroughs Blog: Research Roundup

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 group of researchers at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, Australia have discovered a way to tackle a longstanding challenge that has eluded researchers trying to develop a cure for HIV for decades. HIV can hide in certain white blood cells, creating a reservoir in the body that can later reactivate and evade targeting by the immune system and drugs. The researchers found a way to make the virus visible using mRNA technology, an achievement previously thought impossible and a step closer toward being able to fully clear it from the body. Further research is needed to determine whether revealing the virus is enough to make it vulnerable to the immune system or whether the technology will need to be combined with other therapies, suggesting this technology is still years away from reaching humans.Recently published research examining an understudied group of coronaviruses called merbecoviruses (the same group that includes MERS) found that while most merbecoviruses are unlikely to pose a direct threat to humans, one subgroup is only one small mutation away from being able to spill over into human populations and cause a major outbreak. This subgroup of viruses, called HKU5, has been found across Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, but its natural host is in Asia: the Japanese house bat. Previous research has already found one HKU5 virus that has been documented to jump across animal species. This study and its methods, specifically the use of artificial intelligence, could be used to improve further research and support the development of new vaccines and treatments. A group of scientists in Burkina Faso have successfully completed the first phase of a clinical trial testing the PfSPZ-LARC2 vaccine for Plasmodium falciparum malaria in youths between 6 and 19 years old. The vaccine, which was previously found to be safe and effective in adults, is unique and innovative because it uses genetically engineered parasites that cannot cause disease but are potent enough to generate immunity. In fact, the vaccine has demonstrated an ability to achieve higher efficacy at a lower dose and for a longer duration than existing vaccines for malaria. If proven effective in further trials, it could represent a significant game changer in malaria control efforts, reducing the burden on health care systems and increasing convenience for people in malaria-endemic countries, as well as travelers and military personnel.

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 research found that vaccinating infants for measles earlier could help close a crucial gap in protection in those early months of life and warrants further study, especially as measles cases surge globally, underscoring the need for new and innovative approaches. The systematic review looked at 34 journal articles with data from 8,000 babies under nine months old in low- and middle-income countries, finding that maternal measles antibody rates were highest at birth before decreasing rapidly, leaving infants with low antibody rates for months before their first recommended measles vaccine dose at 9-12 months, followed by a second at 15-18 months. An earlier first dose, achieved either by giving the first dose sooner or adding a third dose before the routine two-dose schedule, could help close that critical gap in immunity.Last week, Roche announced that it is launching a Phase 3 trial of its novel antibiotic candidate, zosurabalpin, in patients with carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) infections, considered one of the most dangerous and deadly antibiotic-resistant pathogens and a priority for antibiotic development. The study, expected to start at the end of 2025 or early 2026, will compare the safety and efficacy of zosurabalpin with standard-of-care antibiotics in around 400 patients with CRAB infections at sites across Europe, North and South America, and Asia. Zosurabalpin was previously shown to demonstrate high efficacy in lab tests against human clinical CRAB isolates and in mice with lung and thigh infections caused by pan–drug-resistant A baumannii.The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI) announced last week that it has signed a new agreement with the US Department of Defense’s Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense to enable collaboration on several projects to boost global preparedness against future disease outbreaks, including through the development of medical countermeasures. The first project will support the development of a monoclonal antibody for the Nipah virus, a deadly zoonotic disease with no approved tools to defend against it. The department will transfer doses of a Nipah monoclonal antibody, which is currently undergoing Phase 1 testing in the United States, to CEPI for a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial in India and Bangladesh, two countries that see almost annual Nipah outbreaks. These trials aim to provide critical data that could enable access to the monoclonal antibody to protect vulnerable populations during an outbreak in Nipah-affected regions and the US joint forces in a potential emergency.

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 announced a new project, funded by Wellcome, to expand the use of a low-cost, field-deployable, and real-time viral genome sequencing technique that has been widely used to detect COVID-19 variants to cover a wider variety of pathogens, helping public health officials surveil known and unknown pathogens of concern and respond to outbreaks more quickly and effectively. The project, which includes an international team of researchers, is supported by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the Asia Pathogen Genomics Initiative, and the World Health Organization International Pathogen Surveillance Network, which will help ensure that the system is broadly accessible around the world, even in places with limited resources and laboratory infrastructure.Harvard University researchers have found a drug combination that can kill the malaria parasite directly in mosquitoes so they can no longer spread the disease. Given the drugs can be absorbed the legs of mosquitoes, the goal is to create a cheap, long-lasting tool that could be applied alongside insecticides to bed nets in malaria-endemic regions. As resistance to the insecticides used on bed nets rises, this new method is less likely to lead to the emergence of resistance. The drugs, which were tested on materials similar to bed nets in a laboratory setting, killed 100 percent of the parasites. The method will be next tested in a real-world study in Ethiopia.A research team at Institut Pasteur has started a project testing a new rapid diagnostic that could detect the presence of the Plasmodium vivax malaria parasites early on after the initial mosquito bite—before symptoms arise—, helping patients receive appropriate treatment faster. Specifically, the researchers intend to design a test that can detect the presence of the parasite in blood samples from individuals whose infection is in the dormant liver stage, when it is difficult to detect infection. The project, which will run through 2030, has received around €6 million in funding from the European Union, as well as the British and Swiss governments.

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 study looking at data from two separate Phase 1 clinical trials shows that a targeted vaccine strategy can successfully activate early immune responses relevant to HIV, a significant advance in longtime efforts to develop an HIV vaccine. A persistent challenge in advancing HIV vaccines has been finding a way to train the immune system to produce antibodies that target many variants of the tricky, rapidly mutating virus. The study, conducted by an international team of scientists from IAVI and Scripps Research, included nearly 80 participants from North America and Africa, helping ensure a future vaccine has global potential. One of the trials used a stepwise vaccination strategy, administering two doses sequentially to guide the immune system to develop antibodies, while the second trial found that an initial dose could successfully activate the desired immune cells. Both vaccines used an mRNA vaccine platform, enabling faster production and clinical testing.A recently published study found that a new water-soluble formulation of the only drug available to treat helminths, or parasitic worms, can achieve the same effect as the currently available tablet form at half the usual dose. Praziquantel is currently available as large tablets that are bitter and difficult to swallow, especially for children and pets. The new formulation can be dissolved in water and was shown to be more efficiently absorbed, enabling patients to receive a smaller dose without sacrificing efficacy. Further clinical testing is needed before the new formulation can be brought to market, but if it continues to demonstrate success, the new formulation could be a game-changer in addressing helminths, which affect 400 million people worldwide.