Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania are developing a new mRNA vaccine targeting all known flu strains in a single shot and said the vaccine is showing promise in animal studies. The researchers are hopeful that the new vaccines could potentially prevent the next influenza pandemic, news agency CBC reported.
The researchers from the University of Pennsylvania published their findings on Thursday in the journal Science. They said the vaccine produced high levels of antibody protection in mice and ferrets against all flu strains, giving hope that a universal flu vaccine could be on its way.
The report by CBC said that the new research takes mRNA technology to new heights and shows that it has built on the progress made during the Covid-19 pandemic. The mRNA vaccine has been used effectively on billions of people globally.
Scott Hensley, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia told CBC: “Our approach was to make a vaccine that encoded every influenza subtype and lineage that we know about.” He further added that the goal was to set a “baseline level of immune memory” that could then be recalled when there is emergence of a new pandemic strain.
The seasonal flu shots protect against existing circulating strains every year but when it comes to strains that can spill over from animals and spark pandemics, like H1N1 in 2009 it is not that effective. But the new shot that is being developed could provide immunity against flu strains, theoretically.
Hensley said that a Phase 1 human study is being planned. He said that animal models show that the vaccine has achieved its objective which was inducing immune memory in a broad way. He added that the main goal was to reduce hospitalizations and severe disease.
The potential vaccine is still years away since successful human trials will be required before making it available commercially. However, Alyson Kelvin, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization told the CBC that developing a flu shot which can target all 20 known influenza A and B strains is a major scientific achievement.
Kelvin pointed out that despite key questions about the research and development of the vaccine remaining unanswered, the fact there were strong responses in the animal trials is a promising development.
The CBC report said the vaccine uses lipid nanoparticles to target all known flu strains. Lipid nanoparticles are a successful delivery system for mRNA vaccines which was developed by Canadian scientist Pieter Cullis and researchers at the University of British Columbia.
Hensley said that the vaccine induces broad immunity in mice and ferrets who have never before been exposed to the virus, raising hopes that the vaccine would mimic the mechanism when given to children. He added that broad immunity was induced in the animals present in the trial who were previously infected and recovered.
The researchers speaking to CBC pointed out that there are regulatory hurdles which will present themselves in the future once the human clinical trials are completed but also pointed to vaccine hesitancy as well.
Citing the lack of enthusiasm towards bivalent vaccines, booster and even the initial Covid-19 vaccine series, researchers fear that developing vaccines would be of no practical use if people do not take it.
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