H5N1 Avian Influenza Vaccine Enters Trial

VRC Director Gary Nabel, M.D., Ph.D., together with a team of scientists from the VRC recognized the potential for employing new vaccine technology against influenza, a disease for which effective vaccines have long been made, but for which the reliability of supply and manufacturing capacity has been problematic. Dr. Nabel and his colleagues previously have shown the DNA vaccine approach to be effective against influenza viruses in animal models, including highly pathogenic viruses such as the H5N1 strain and the H1N1 virus that caused the deadly 1918 pandemic. The DNA vaccine used in this study is similar to other investigational vaccines evaluated by the VRC that hold promise for controlling other viruses, such as HIV, Ebola, SARS and West Nile.

“An effective H5N1 influenza vaccine would provide a potentially life-saving advance against a global health threat,” notes NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. “More broadly, development of this DNA vaccine technology has the potential to improve our production capacity for vaccines to prevent seasonal influenza and other diseases.”

“This influenza vaccine trial is further evidence of the ability of the NIAID Vaccine Research Center to rapidly translate basic research into potential products,” he adds. “Our accelerated effort to understand and find new solutions to pandemic influenza is part of the NIAID commitment to respond to new emerging infectious disease threats and to improve public health preparedness.”

With the spread of avian influenza virus, new strains have emerged, including clade II viruses in Indonesia and elsewhere that have drifted genetically from the initial strains detected in Southeast Asia. With this study, the investigators hope to learn whether new technologies, such as DNA vaccines, can provide protection against such viruses.

“This vaccine is aimed at newer strains of the H5N1 virus that currently pose a threat in Indonesia and represents an example of our ability to respond to shifting viruses with modern technology,” says Dr. Nabel.

For more information on influenza see http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/news/focuson/flu. Also visit http://www.PandemicFlu.gov for one-stop access to U.S. Government information on avian and pandemic flu.

Note: This article has been adapted from a news release issued by NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.