Long-term universal influenza vaccine advances

The world is getting closer to getting a long-lasting, universal vaccine against influenza. A team of scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (United States) successfully completed the first human clinical trial of this promising drug, the purpose of which is to induce immune responses against a broad set of virus strains.

Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) reveal that influenza kills about 650,000 people a year, so the advancement of this universal vaccine represents an important step for science and health.

Posted in the magazine Nature Medicine, the report of the first phase of clinical trials explains that the vaccine generated a strong immune response in 65 participants. Furthermore, it was found that it lasted at least one and a half years.

Florian Krammer, professor of Microbiology at the aforementioned school and author of the study, indicated that the vaccines developed so far are aimed at attacking the head of the hemagglutinin (HA) protein, which coats the influenza virus and helps it bind itself to the receptors of human cells. The problem is that this part of the protein mutates very quickly and manages to evade immunizations, leading to new strains of influenza. In view of this, vaccines must be redesigned every year to specifically attack the strains that appear.

“Unfortunately, the virus can escape neutralization by mutating this part of the hemagglutinin through a process known as antigenic drift,” explained Peter Palese, professor of microbiology and chair of the Department of Microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and co-author of the study.

The current vaccine under development seeks to correct this uncertainty. The project no longer targets the head of the HA protein, but rather the stem, which mutates much less. In this way, the vaccine could be universal and effective against any strain.

“An influenza virus vaccine that results in broad immunity would likely protect against any emerging flu virus subtype or strain and significantly improve our preparedness for a pandemic,” Krammer said.

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