InterviewsSeptember 5, 2023
Chagas is one of the 20 diseases that the WHO classifies as neglected, and about 12,000 people die from it a year, mostly in Latin America. In Argentina there are 1.6 million infected and 7 million at risk. The UBA is developing a next-generation vaccine that is ready to begin its final phase of human testing. He advanced it in C5N Emilio Malchiodi, director of the Institute of Studies of Humoral Immunity of the UBA / Conicet.
What instance is the project in now?
The project was presented to the European economic community, a five-year project that began in June 2019, and was practically interrupted for two years due to the pandemic. At this time, we have completed the tests on the first animal species (with mice) and the experiments on dogs and non-human primates are ongoing.
Is it the pre-human?
This is what is called the preclinical stage, which includes numerous steps or working groups. For example, the antigen was being developed in a quality to be used in animals, it is one thing to produce it in the laboratory and another thing to start producing it in quantity to immunize large animals, not mice. In order to move to phase 1 in humans, it is necessary to produce the antigen with a higher, much higher quality, and this is being done at this time.
What is sought?
The idea is to develop a vaccine that has the capacity to prevent infection, this is called a prophylactic or preventive vaccine. And that same version of that vaccine for therapy, for patients who are already infected, trying to change what would be the individual’s immune response to control the parasite.
What is new, discovering the non-asymptomatic?
Yes, it is very important. Chagas disease has two very characteristic periods because when the person is infected it is a parasite that does not give many manifestations, so that infection often goes unnoticed. When there are signs, then the treatment with the drugs that are used is very effective. These drugs are very efficient to control the parasite in acute infection, the problem is that most of the time it is not noticeable. The parasite takes refuge in muscle tissue and takes refuge in there and then the medicine no longer affects it in the same way. It would be very useful to have a vaccine that changes the person’s immune response and -along with the medication, the joint administration- both would provide a solution to that Chronic infection.
Who works on this project?
The project is being carried out in two institutes of the UBA and the Conicet, which are the IDEHU, of which I am the director, but they are also being carried out in the Impam. All tests that have to do with infections are carried out at the Medical Microbiology and Parasitology Research Institute (IMPaM, CONICET-UBA), located in Medicine at the University of Buenos Aires. But the entire project involves 10 groups that are in Europe because when this was put together, the availability in Argentina, for example, to generate a vaccine antigen, those conditions were not given and now with the Covid they are.
There is much greater capacity and at that time the consortium had to be made together with 10 groups from Europe, there are three from Portugal, one from Spain, another from France, another from Belgium, another from Hungary and three more from Germany. It’s a very large consortium because the body of work is huge.
Tags: C5N, Chagas, Conicet, Development, Emilio Malchiodi, Infection, WHO, Health, UBA, Vaccine
2023-09-05 16:35:47
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