Greenlight Biosciences Holdings PBC has received regulatory approval from the Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (Rwanda FDA) to start a first-in-human phase I/II trial of its mRNA vaccine candidate against COVID-19, GLB-COV2-043, as a booster for previously vaccinated individuals.

Researchers from Therapyx Inc. and Intravacc BV assessed the potential of intranasal administration of a novel gonococcal vaccine candidate consisting of outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) and microsphere (ms)-encapsulated interleukin-12 (IL-12 ms). It was previously demonstrated that female mice can be immunized intravaginally with gonococcal OMVs plus IL-12 ms to induce anti-gonococcal antibodies and resistance to genital tract challenge with live Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

A Harvard Medical School research team developed a bifunctional therapeutic vaccine strategy by transforming living tumor cells into a potent agent with direct tumor killing and immunostimulatory abilities.

Researchers at the University of Cape Town have compared the T-cell responses of individuals who were infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis but were able to control the infection to those who developed active disease. The researchers wrote that the shared antigens in controllers “can be considered as high-priority targets for future vaccine development.” Their results were published online in Nature Medicine on Jan. 5, 2023. In their experiments, the team first sequenced the CDR3β region of the T-cell repertoire in a total of 166 individuals with M. tuberculosis infection who progressed to either TB or controlled infection.

After comparing the response to the two types of vaccines for the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) based on its fusion protein (F), prefusion (pre-F) versus postfusion (post-F) vaccines, scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Astrazeneca plc have demonstrated that targeting the pre-F protein led to better protection. No more bets on RSV immunization based on the post-F protein of the virus. Laboratories can now bet all on red for the pre-F technology.

Ice, juice, the exact measure of liquor, a few drops of Angostura... What goes into a good New Year’s Eve cocktail? According to researchers working on vaccines for the most elusive viruses, it will be time soon to toast next-generation vaccines. If 2020 was the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2021 the year of mRNA vaccinations, 2022 brought polyvalent designs of antigens, evaluated highly neutralizing antibodies, and fine-tuned mRNA technology against SARS-CoV-2, HIV and the flu.

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is so common that it infects approximately 0.7% of the world population to ultimately cause ~300,000 deaths each year. Small molecule-based antivirals can cure most HCV infections, but these are often only used after irreversible liver damage has already occurred, prohibitively expensive, and inaccessible for high-risk populations.

Eleven vaccines have now been approved by the World Health Organization for preventing COVID-19, but all exhibit drastically reduced activities after 6 months. Unlike vaccines that express only the spike protein as the immunogen, live attenuated vaccines have the potential to confer a broader and more durable protection.

Ethris GmbH has entered into a collaboration with Diosynvax Ltd. to jointly develop a protective mRNA vaccine candidate against a broad range of betacoronaviruses utilizing the company's highly differentiated mRNA modification and design technologies as well as its lipidoid nanoparticle (LNP) and stabilization platforms.