Breakthroughs Blog: Research Roundup

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. Last week, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced a $43.5 million deal with AstraZeneca to further the development of novel antibodies designed to target four pandemic influenza virus strains, which could reduce costs and improve access to monoclonal antibody treatments. The antibodies, called VHH, have unique potential to be a key medical countermeasure in the event of an influenza pandemic, and this investment marks the first time they are being looked at for pandemic flu protection, although they are currently being studied as a potential tool to address chronic diseases, including cancers. If proven effective down the line, VHH antibodies could serve as a stopgap in the case of an influenza pandemic before vaccines can be widely rolled out.A team of Chinese researchers has discovered a bacterial compound that can kill infectious fungi, including antifungal-resistant strains, as antimicrobial resistance, including resistance to antifungals, continues to rise around the world. The compound, mandimycin, was effective against World Health Organization fungal priority pathogens Candida auris, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Aspergillus fumigatus in lab tests and was able to treat an antifungal-resistant Candida auris strain in mice. The compound also seemed less likely than other compounds to lead to the development of resistance in the fungi exposed to it, underscoring its potential as a key tool to address this growing global public health crisis.Last week, the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) and deepmirror announced a new disease-agnostic platform, Drug Design for Global Health, designed to accelerate drug discovery through machine learning and artificial intelligence in low- and middle-income countries. The partners aim to bolster global health security by speeding up the development of new drugs for a variety of significant diseases, including malaria, tuberculosis, and neglected tropical diseases. Specifically, the platform aims to eliminate financial barriers for scientists in low- and middle-income countries and give them access to cutting-edge technology, enabling them to drive innovation in drug discovery research efforts.

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. An experimental hormone-free birth control pill for men appears to be safe and well-tolerated in an early-stage, in-human study and successfully prevented sperm production in mammal studies. The drug, YCT-529, is being developed by YourChoice Therapeutics and Quotient Sciences and works by interfering with the vitamin A signaling necessary for sperm production. There are no male birth control pills available, but, in the future, an option like YCT-529 could help prevent unwanted pregnancies and reduce the burden traditionally placed on women for contraception.Last week, an international team of researchers reported that their Phase 3 clinical trial found that a vaccine that protects against five strains of meningitis is safe and effective, a finding that supports is use in routine childhood immunization programs in high-burden countries. The trial was conducted in babies and toddlers in Mali, one of the countries in the sub-Saharan African meningitis belt, so-called because of its high incidence rates and regular large-scale epidemics of meningitis. Previous trials demonstrated positive results for the vaccine in children over 12 months and adults. The vaccine could be a game-changer for meningitis control, and its affordability would also enable broad scale-up.Gilead recently published early data suggesting that a new formulation of its drug, lenacapavir, could be used to prevent HIV infection with just one shot per year. These exciting results follow data published last year that the drug could provide virtually complete protection with a twice-a-year shot. Reducing the dosage even further will only improve adherence by reducing the cost and burden on those taking the drug and their health care providers. The two-dose formulation of the drug is already under regulatory review, but Gilead is planning a Phase 3 trial of the once-yearly version to begin later this year.

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 research team at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has discovered a key process that could provide new insight into designing more effective antimalarial drugs, as rising antimicrobial resistance complicates the ongoing global fight against malaria by rendering current drugs less effective. One promising strategy to combat poor absorption or retention of drugs in the body is the use of prodrugs that can offer a more targeted attack. However, these prodrugs need to be activated, typically by an enzyme. By identifying the primary enzyme that activates multiple antimalarial drugs, these new findings could enable the development of prodrugs for malaria, which, by design, would also be less likely to lead to the emergence of drug resistance.New research shows that wastewater sampling, including in sewer systems and on airplanes, could predict new viral and bacterial outbreaks and the emergence of new variants of pathogens weeks or even months before they become widespread, in addition to being less invasive, more efficient, and faster than current methods. A new study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention demonstrates how it was able to use wastewater sampling to detect the presence of avian flu in 2022 weeks before the virus was detected in poultry and then wild bird populations. Widespread and regular wastewater sampling would enable public health authorities to better surveil population and community health and, on a more micro level, help health care providers provide more accurate diagnoses and care for patients.  Last week, the Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium announced the first administration of its new pediatric schistosomiasis treatment to a preschool-aged child in Uganda, marking a critical step toward closing the long-standing treatment gap for young children for this parasitic disease, which affects millions of children in sub-Saharan Africa. The innovative therapy, designed specifically for children between three months and six years, is also child-friendly, palatable, and heat-stable, making it especially well-suited for this population and region. The rollout is part of a program aimed at integrating the treatment into health care systems and preparing for its broader rollout across the region, starting with Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Tanzania, and Senegal.

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 team of Brazilian researchers has developed a simple test that can detect exposure to any of the four strains of dengue virus, as well as the Zika virus, as dengue cases continue to rise to a concerning degree in the region. The test was first validated with blood samples from mice experimentally infected with the viruses and then with hundreds of blood samples donated by people during the 2015-2017 Brazilian Zika epidemic. It uses technology that can be easily adapted for use in automated systems and rapid point-of-care tests and could serve as a key tool in the case of a Zika outbreak, allowing health care providers to test the immunity of at-risk groups while accounting for the possibility of cross-reactivity with antibodies produced after infection by dengue.Last week, IAVI and Biofabri announced that the first doses of tuberculosis (TB) vaccine candidate MTBVAC have been administered in a critical large-scale Phase 2b trial testing the safety and efficacy of MTBVAC to prevent active TB lung disease in adolescents and adults. While there is a vaccine for TB, it is more than 100 years old and has limited efficacy in preventing pulmonary TB, the most common form in adults. A new vaccine could be a game changer in the global fight against this leading infectious disease. MTBVAC is also a single-shot vaccine, making it easier to administer in low-resource and remote settings, and the partners developing it are committed to ensuring that, if proven successful in further trials, there will be a sufficient, affordable supply in the places where it is most needed.The Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) last week announced a $2 million award to Immunethep to develop a vaccine against invasive strains of Escherichia coli. The funding will support work on a conjugate peptide-based vaccine candidate designed to induce immunity to E coli, which can cause serious, life-threatening infections that are becoming harder to treat with the rising prevalence of antimicrobial resistance. There are currently no vaccines for E coli. The candidate has demonstrated efficacy against E coli, as well as four other priority bacterial pathogens in animal models, and, if it continues to prove successful, could be a key tool for preventing serious bacterial infections in vulnerable populations.