Research Roundup: Fourth COVID-19 vaccine in US, a Nipah vaccine trial, and vaccines to address AMR

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. Following the remarkable success of the first COVID-19 vaccines, developed at unprecedented speeds, investment in next-generation shots has so far fallen short, according to some experts. Nasal vaccines, in particular, experts say could prove more effective at preventing COVID-19 infections than intramuscular shots, as they concentrate immune protection in the upper airway and induce mucosal immune responses where the virus typically enters the body. Several nasal vaccine candidates are in development in the United States—though primarily remain in preclinical or early-stage clinical trials—as well as globally, including phase 3 trials in India and China. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, for example, is funding early research on a protein-based nasal spray as well as an mRNA vaccine delivered into the nose using nanoparticles, though any successful nasal vaccine is likely years away from becoming available.As monkeypox cases continue to rise globally, experts and leaders are looking at health technologies with potential to combat the virus—including repurposed smallpox vaccines that have begun to be deployed, predominantly in high-income countries. In addition to vaccines, scientists are evaluating existing drugs that could serve as treatments against monkeypox, for which there are no specific treatments licensed. A recent study in JAMA analyzed several preexisting drugs, including antivirals brincidofovir and tecovirimat, both of which have been tested among monkeypox patients in the past with varying success. The ongoing uncertainty surrounding treatments for the new outbreak highlights the lack of evidence-based therapeutics for monkeypox, according to the journal article, as well as the inequities in the global response as countermeasures have been stockpiled by high-income countries but remain limited in monkeypox-endemic countries.In a new study, researchers describe how a Lassa virus protein drives infection by harnessing a cellular protein in human hosts, as well as identify how future therapies could target this interaction to treat patients. The research suggests that disrupting the link between Lassa polymerase—a protein encoded by the virus—and a specific host protein it interacts with—GSPT1—could stop Lassa virus infection. In pursuit of this, the research team identified an existing drug candidate, CC-90009, that has been shown to destroy GSPT1 proteins and is currently being examined in clinical trials as a cancer therapy. In early experiments, CC-90009 significantly reduced Lassa virus growth without obvious cell toxicity, and researchers plan to continue evaluation in animal models. There is currently no antiviral drug that specifically targets Lassa virus.

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. On Wednesday, the Stop TB Partnership launched a new global plan to end tuberculosis (TB) by 2030. The plan requires a total of $250 billion in funding, $40.2 billion of which would go toward accelerating the research and development of new TB diagnostics, medicines, and vaccines—including a specific goal of developing a new TB vaccine by 2025. There is currently only one licensed TB vaccine, which was approved more than 100 years ago and has limited benefit in adult populations. Several promising candidates are in clinical trials, including four in advanced stages of development, making it possible to have a new TB vaccine by 2025—if sufficient funding and political will is present to push things forward.A new, “all-in-one” vaccine showed early promise in protecting against a variety of coronaviruses, including COVID-19, SARS, and MERS, according to preclinical study results published last week. The mosaic-8 vaccine was able to train immune systems to recognize eight viruses at once in animal studies, demonstrating proof of concept for its ability to block a range of betacoronaviruses—the subgroup containing the virus that causes COVID-19. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has pledged $30 million to begin clinical trials of the experimental vaccine in humans. The phase 1 trial will take place at Oxford University, which collaborated with the California Institute of Technology to develop the vaccine, and will likely take at least a year.Advances in science, in conjunction with rising investment in research, have led to the development of promising new treatment candidates for several neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in recent years—though little progress has been made on the NTD subset of parasitic worm diseases. In a new study published last week, researchers outline these NTD research trends, noting that despite a long-standing lack of innovation in drugs for neglected diseases, partnerships between public, private, and nonprofit entities have enabled major progress in developing treatments for several target NTDs like leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and sleeping sickness. This same progress has not been seen, however, among parasitic worm diseases like schistosomiasis, as research is often left at early stages. Bolstered drug discovery efforts focused on these diseases are needed in order to combat their high global prevalence, the researchers conclude.