The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on Monday that enrollment for volunteers has begun for a Phase I clinical trial testing of universal flu vaccine based on mRNA technology.
Messenger RNA, or mRNA, is the same technology behind the widely used Covid shot from Moderna and Pfizer.
“A clinical trial of an experimental universal influenza vaccine developed by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ (NIAID) Vaccine Research Center (VRC), part of the National Institutes of Health, has begun enrolling volunteers at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina,” according to the news release.
“This Phase 1 trial will test the experimental vaccine, known as H1ssF-3928 mRNA-LNP, for safety and its ability to induce an immune response.”
Researchers are hoping that this vaccine would provide long-lasting protection against many flu strains, eliminating the need for annual vaccinations.
The clinical trial is open to 50 healthy participants ages 18 to 49.
“Three groups of study participants (10 participants each) will be vaccinated with 10, 25 and 50 micrograms of the experimental vaccine, respectively. After evaluation of the data to determine an optimum dosage, an additional 10 participants will be enrolled to receive the optimum dosage. The study also will include a group of participants who will receive a current quadrivalent seasonal influenza vaccine.”
According to CDC, a quadrivalent influenza (flu) vaccine is designed to protect against four different flu viruses, including two influenza A viruses and two influenza B viruses.
“A universal influenza vaccine would be a major public health achievement and could eliminate the need for both annual development of seasonal influenza vaccines, as well as the need for patients to get a flu shot each year,” said Acting NIAID Director Hugh Auchincloss, M.D. “Moreover, some strains of influenza virus have significant pandemic potential. A universal flu vaccine could serve as an important line of defense against the spread of a future flu pandemic.”
News: Clinical trial of mRNA universal influenza vaccine candidate begins https://t.co/O8vGRNABPH
— NIH (@NIH) May 15, 2023
The Gateway Pundit reported last year that NIH had started conducting a phase 1 clinical trial of universal flu vaccine on healthy adult volunteers at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ((NIAID) researchers created the potential vaccine known as BPL-1357. NIAID researcher Matthew J. Memoli, M.D. is in charge of the single-site experiment, which is open to 100 participants ages 18 to 55.
“The placebo-controlled trial will test the safety of a candidate vaccine, BPL-1357, and its ability to prompt immune responses,” according to the press release.
NIH stated in their news release that BPL-1357 is a whole-virus vaccine composed of four strains of non-infectious, chemically inactivated avian flu virus with minimal pathogenicity.
“BPL-1357 is a whole-virus vaccine made up of four strains of non-infectious, chemically inactivated, low-pathogenicity avian flu virus. A study in animals, led by NIAID investigator Jeffery K. Taubenberger, M.D., Ph.D., and posted online as a pre-print, found that all mice receiving two doses of BPL-1357 vaccine delivered either intramuscularly or intranasally survived later exposure to lethal doses of each of six different influenza virus strains, including subtypes that were not included in the vaccine. Similar results were obtained in challenge experiments with BPL-1357-vaccinated ferrets.”
News: Trial of potential universal flu vaccine opens at NIH Clinical Center https://t.co/CpPAwK0czw
— NIH (@NIH) June 28, 2022