Serological Correlates of Vaccine Protection – Marburg/Nipah/Plague/Q-Fever

The development of safe, effective and economically affordable vaccines against Emerging Diseases of Pandemic Potential, such as Nipah and Marburg viruses and the bacteria causing Plague and Q Fever would provide powerful public health tools to prevent outbreaks in countries where these diseases reside in animals and permit swift and effective control of outbreaks initiated by returning travellers. However, work on these diseases may only take place in specially designed laboratories, making the cost of vaccine research and development prohibitive for most organisations. The availability of reference materials and standards accelerates the development of such vaccines. For these diseases, there is strong evidence that patients that have recovered from infection are immune when re-exposed. This protection is believed to be due to the presence of molecules called antibodies in the blood specifically binding to the virus or bacteria. Measuring the amount of these antibodies accurately is critical for comparing the merits of different candidate vaccines as they are being developed. The MHRA laboratories at South Mimms is the global leader in the development of World Health Organisation (WHO) established International Standards and reference materials for biological medicines such as vaccines. In response to WHO requests, we have a programme to develop serological standards that harmonise the measurement of antibody responses against emerging pathogens including Nipah, Marburg, Q-Fever and Plague. However to be most valuable for vaccine development, we need to determine how much antibody is needed to prevent infection and disease. This funding award will enable the MHRA team to collaborate with scientists at UKHSA and Dstl laboratories at Porton Down and the Institut Pasteur in Madagascar, where they have the specialist bio-containment laboratories and in vivo models set up that will answer these specific questions. Previous funding from Innovate UK has enabled similar work demonstrate that existing WHO International Standards that measure antibodies against Chikungunya and Zika viruses fully protect against infection and this information is accelerating late stage clinical evaluation of novel vaccines. Increasing the number of diseases for which measurement standards exists that can determine exactly how much antibody an effective vaccine must generate, will stimulate vaccine developers to bring more new vaccines to market and protect those communities most at risk from these emerging diseases.