Research Roundup: Long-acting PrEP deal, new monkeypox tools, and pan-coronavirus shot progress

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 novel antibody treatment designed to prevent malaria was able to protect against infection in a majority of participants in a phase 1 trial, according to results published last week. The method utilizes a monoclonal antibody, dubbed L9LS, that is optimized to target a protein used by the malaria parasite to infect hosts. The recent trial tested three different doses of the antibody treatment, administered either intravenously or subcutaneously, among 17 healthy volunteers. All participants were then exposed to malaria-carrying mosquitos, and just two participants developed malaria in the weeks following. The results provide proof of principle for a next-generation monoclonal antibody, researchers say, suggesting it could be an important tool in eradicating malaria when used in combination with effective vaccines and other prevention measures.  The US National Institutes of Health is preparing to launch a clinical trial evaluating methods to stretch doses of Jynneos, the only vaccine approved for use against monkeypox in the United States. Researchers will study two adjusted regimens in comparison to the current method, which involves two full doses given 28 days apart. One test group will receive a single dose of the vaccine, and another group will receive two doses, given 28 days apart, that are each one-fifth of a full dose and administered intradermally—or into the skin, rather than under the skin—which has potential to activate powerful immune responses. The study will test whether the dose-sparing approaches generate antibody levels similar to those of the full, two-dose regimen, as well as compare the tolerability and reactogenicity of the two different routes. Results are expected toward the end of 2022.A clinical trial in South Africa has shown that a new vaccine candidate for tuberculosis (TB) is safe for newborns and has fewer side effects than the existing TB vaccine, Bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG). The experimental vaccine, VPM1002, was developed by genetically modifying the attenuated BCG vaccine strain so that immune cells better recognize the pathogens, in an effort to increase safety and improve efficacy for immunocompromised children. The phase 2 trial compared VPM1002 with BCG in HIV-exposed and non-HIV-exposed newborns and examined the associated safety and immune response, ultimately finding the vaccine candidate safe in both groups of newborns, with fewer side effects than BCG as well as a similar immune response. Researchers plan to continue to evaluate the vaccine among newborns, including its ability to protect against infection, in a phase 3 trial.

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.