>The HIV vaccine antigens being evaluated as mRNA in this study were originally developed as proteins by William Schief, Ph.D., professor at Scripps Research and executive director of vaccine design at IAVI’s Neutralizing Antibody Center (NAC), and colleagues. In 2021, Dr. Schief announced results from the IAVI G001 clinical trial, showing that an adjuvanted protein-based version of the priming immunogen (eOD-GT8 60mer) induced the desired B-cell response in 97% of recipients. IAVI G002 not only tests priming of the desired immune response using mRNA delivery of eOD-GT8 60mer, but also assesses the ability of a boosting immunogen to induce further maturation of B cells. Given the speed with which mRNA vaccines can be produced, this platform offers a more nimble and responsive approach to vaccine design and testing, potentially shaving off years from typical vaccine development timelines.
>The Schief lab has been a pioneer of the vaccine design approach known as germline targeting. Naive B cells display antibodies encoded by unmutated, or “germline” genes. A series of vaccines, which would begin with the prime-boost immunogens tested here, may be able to target specific naive B cells and induce them to mature into bnAb-producing ones. In the lab, bnAbs have been shown to neutralize a broad range of HIV variants, and one bnAb, VRC01, was recently shown to be capable of protecting humans against infection by neutralization-susceptible HIV strains. VRC01 is a member of the class of bnAbs targeted in IAVI G001.
https://www.iavi.org/news-resources/press-releases/2022/iavi-and-moderna-launch-trial-of-mrna-hiv-vaccine-antigens
What are some other diseases that could benefit from the mRNA technology? Herpes?
>The Schief lab has been a pioneer of the vaccine design approach known as germline targeting. Naive B cells display antibodies encoded by unmutated, or “germline” genes. A series of vaccines, which would begin with the prime-boost immunogens tested here, may be able to target specific naive B cells and induce them to mature into bnAb-producing ones. In the lab, bnAbs have been shown to neutralize a broad range of HIV variants, and one bnAb, VRC01, was recently shown to be capable of protecting humans against infection by neutralization-susceptible HIV strains. VRC01 is a member of the class of bnAbs targeted in IAVI G001.
https://www.iavi.org/news-resources/press-releases/2022/iavi-and-moderna-launch-trial-of-mrna-hiv-vaccine-antigens
What are some other diseases that could benefit from the mRNA technology? Herpes?
