Promising progress: in search of a vaccine against monkeypox

An experimental mpox vaccine developed by Moderna with messenger RNA (mRNA) technology demonstrated greater efficacy than current options in reducing symptoms and disease duration, according to a study carried out on animals published this Wednesday in the scientific journal Cell.

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The discovery comes amid an outbreak of the disease in Africa, partly driven by a new variant that emerged in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has been declared an international emergency.

The World Health Organization (WHO) activated its highest level of global health alert on August 14. Jay Hooper, co-author of the study and a virologist at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases, He told AFP that researchers were looking to explore mRNA technology to ensure both safety and efficacy.

This mRNA vaccine includes genetic instructions that train the host’s immune system to recognize four key viral antigens, which enable the virus to attach to cells. Moderna uses that same mRNA technology in its coronavirus vaccine, which was shown to be safe and effective. For the study, six primates were vaccinated with the mRNA-based dose, six others received the currently licensed vaccine (JYNNEOS), and six others received neither.

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Eight weeks after receiving the dose, the 12 animals were exposed to a lethal strain of mpox. At the end of the experimental cycle, the six unvaccinated primates died, The group that received the older vaccine had a maximum of 607 lesions and the group that had the mRNA dose had only a maximum of 54 lesions. In addition, the mRNA vaccine shortened the period during which animals became ill by more than 10 days compared to the currently available vaccine.

It also reduced the viral load in the blood and throat, suggesting it would be effective in reducing transmission. Moderna’s lead vaccine inventor, Alec Freyn, He told AFP that the serum was also tested against other viruses in the Orthopox family, and effectively neutralized vaccinia virus, cowpox, rabbitpox, camelpox and ectromelia.

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The vaccine, dubbed ARNm-1769, is now part of the initial stage of a human clinical trial in the United Kingdom, which seeks to evaluate its safety and immune response.

AFP