A single vaccine could train the immune system to attack mosquito saliva rather than the viruses and parasites the insects carry. Imutex Limited’s AGS-v contains four synthetic proteins that mimic those in the saliva of many mosquito species. When a vaccinated person is bitten, the immune response targets the saliva—and any pathogen within it—before the infection can take hold. The vaccine also impairs the mosquito’s feeding, reducing its survival and blocking onward transmission. This matters because existing vaccines target individual pathogens—dengue, Zika, chikungunya, yellow fever—one at a time. A single shot that works across multiple mosquito-borne diseases would transform public health in low- and middle-income countries, where these diseases kill millions and strain fragile health systems. AGS-v requires only two doses, no cold-chain, and can be manufactured cheaply at scale. If successful, the vaccine could shift the economics of disease control: fewer outbreaks, lower healthcare costs, and reduced pressure on supply chains for pathogen-specific vaccines. The current grant funds a second clinical trial to refine dosage and formulation, plus lab tests of AGS-v’s ability to kill Zika and chikungunya viruses and its effect on *Aedes aegypti* and *Aedes albopictus*—the latter now colonising southern Europe.
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Mosquitoes cause millions of deaths every year by spreading disease in humans. Mosquitoes are known to carry many infectious diseases from several different classes of microorganisms, including viruses and parasites found in their saliva. For example, Aedes sp.is the carrier for Zika, Dengue, Chikungunya and Yellow Fever viruses. More than half of the world’s population live in areas where these mosquito species are present. Despite many attempts to control the mosquito population and efforts to develop pathogen-specific vaccines, these diseases continue to be one of the major challenges to health and the economy in low and middle income countries. Imutex Limited has developed AGS-v, a multivalent vaccine that aims to protect humans against a variety of mosquito borne diseases. AGS-v does not target the specific pathogen but the mosquito. AGS-v contains four small proteins that mimic proteins found in the saliva of many mosquito species. During a blood feed, female mosquitoes secrete saliva in the bite site to help with the blood flow. If the mosquito is infected, pathogens will be found in its saliva. The immune response generated after vaccination with AGS-v is designed to fight the pathogen when the mosquito spits saliva with pathogen in the blood during a feed. In addition, when the mosquito feeds it takes up blood containing AGS-v specific immune response. This will impede feeding reducing the survival of the mosquito and thus blocking the transmission of the disease to another human. AGS-v is currently being tested for safety in a first-in-man clinical trial at the National Institutes of Health in the US. The funding requested to Innovate UK will go towards further developing AGS-v in a second clinical trial building up on the data gathered so far in order to improve dosage and formulation of AGS-v. In vitro efficacy of AGS-v in killing Zika and Chikungunya viruses will be explored and the effects of the vaccine on the survival of Aedes mosquito species will be assessed. Although Aedes aegypti is the main carrier of Zika and Chinkungunya, Aedes albopictus which has recently colonised southern Europe from Asia, has been shown to be able to carry those viruses too, hence becoming a threat to European countries too. AGS-v has been developed with low and middle income countries in mind. It has been optimised to require only two doses, to require no cold-chain and to be manufactured through a scalable low cost synthetic process.
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