Recipient organisationPublic Health EnglandSource-published name: Public Health England
Funding£2.0M
PeriodAug 2018 — Mar 2022
In plain English
AI plain-English summary
A single injection of a new vaccine, MVA-HantaVacc, cleared a deadly rodent-borne virus from the tissues of immunised mice. This matters because Seoul virus and Hantaan virus cause Haemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS), a severe disease that sickens between 100,000 and 150,000 people worldwide each year, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. No licensed vaccine currently exists for these pathogens. The vaccine uses a Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vector—a proven, cost-effective platform that is thermostable and easy to manufacture—to deliver a mosaic of viral nucleoproteins from both virus types. If this research succeeds through Phase I human trials, the result could be an affordable, stockpile-ready vaccine for regions where HFRS is a persistent burden. The MVA platform’s stability means it could be distributed without a cold chain, reaching rural clinics in endemic areas. This project is translational, not curiosity-driven: it takes a demonstrated proof of concept in mice and moves it toward a GMP-compliant product ready for testing in healthy volunteers.
View original technical description
Seoul virus (SEOV) and Hantaan virus (HTNV) are widespread pathogens maintained in rodents and transmitted to humans in aerosols of rodent excreta. Human infection results in Haemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS), a key burden of disease in many low and middle income countries with between 100,000-150,000 cases documented worldwide per year. Whilst other Hantaviruses exist, they cause more infrequent types of disease or are geographically restricted to the Americas, the need for vaccine intervention against them is less urgent than for SEOV and HTNV. During the 12 month Stream 1 funded project, we developed a multi-valent vaccine, termed MVA-HantaVacc, based on the vector Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) containing a recombinant mosaic nucleoprotein of SEOV and HTNV. MVA-based vaccines are efficient and cost-effective; they offer many advantages including a proven safety record, the ability to elicit both cellular and humoral immunity, thermostability and ease of manufacture. We then demonstrated that MVA-HantaVacc is immunogenic in mice. A strong antigen-specific recall T-cell response was observed along with production of Hantavirus-specific antibodies. In the absence of a suitable laboratory disease model of SEOV or HTNV infection, vaccine efficacy was assessed in type-I interferon receptor knockout mice (strain A129) which can be experimentally infected with SEOV. Animals immunised with MVA-HantaVacc demonstrated clearance of virus from key tissues in contrast to control groups. This is the first demonstration of a successful research grade MVA Hantavirus vaccine. In order to further progress MVA-HantaVacc through a Phase I human clinical trial, we will first re-engineer the Hantavirus nucleoprotein antigens into a GMP-compliant MVA vector. We will then demonstrate bioequivalence of the new vaccine with the 'research grade' vaccine, before manufacturing a GMP batch which will undergo stringent quality control and toxicity testing. Once complete, MVA-HantaVacc will enter into a Phase I clinical trial to test safety and immunogenicity in healthy human volunteers. We have already started discussi
Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.
Is something wrong? Let us know