Trial of experimental H5N1 vaccine underway in the US

A study published in Cell Biomaterials by Jonathan Lovell, Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University at Buffalo (USA), and coll. has reported the results of a vaccine in development that has shown complete protection against a variant of the H5N1 virus responsible for avian influenza. The study focused on the variant known as 2.3. 4.4b, which has caused significant outbreaks in wild birds, poultry, dairy cattle, and other mammals. Lovell and coll. tested the vaccine platform in mice infected with 2.3.4.4b using doses containing the key proteins that stimulate the immune system to produce specific antibodies. These are haemagglutinin (H5) and neuraminidase (N1), which are rigorously combined. The options available are H5 only, N1 only, and H5 and N1 combined. The results showed that H5 provided complete protection, with no signs of disease observed in the mice. In addition, the combination of H5 and N1 provided complete protection but did not exceed the efficacy of H5 alone. The addition of N1 did not provide more protection than H5 alone, demonstrating the critical role of haemagglutinin (H5) in the development of immunity to avian influenza. Because they’ve focused on the H5 protein rather than the N1 protein, this could pave the way for better and more versatile vaccines in the US and Europe. In contrast to the currently authorised vaccines, which employ live or killed versions of H5N1, the experimental vaccine relies on fragments of genetic material (H5 and N1) from the virus to stimulate an immune response.