Strengthening the world’s front-line defences against Nipah virus
CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations)
We want to stop future epidemics by developing new vaccines for a safer world.
The southern Indian state of Kerala has been on high alert this month following news that two people died from a lethal brain-swelling virus. The cause: Nipah virus—one of the world’s most lethal pathogens, which kills up to 75% of the people it infects. Yet there are currently no approved medical countermeasures to defend against Nipah. Sadly, for people in India and Bangladesh, where people die from the virus almost every year, this news will come as no surprise.
But it’s not just these South Asian countries that are at risk from Nipah infection. The fruit bats that carry and spread the virus are found in many parts of the world, putting an estimated 2 billion people at risk of this potentially deadly infection.
The need to develop protective countermeasures could not be clearer. This is where CEPI comes in, as the world’s largest funder of Nipah virus research, committing well over US$100 million to its Nipah virus programmes.
Two of the vaccines CEPI has funded are on the verge of entering Phase II trials in Bangladesh and are at the most advanced stage of clinical testing that a Nipah vaccine has reached so far. CEPI additionally funds a Nipah monoclonal antibody, which will also be tested in human trials in a Nipah-affected country in the near future. This antibody could offer immediate protection against Nipah virus, providing a protective immunological bridge against the deadly virus, prior to the onset of longer-lasting vaccine-induced immunity, helping to protect high-risk populations like healthcare workers.
If successful, these countermeasures will ensure that people could one day be protected from this devastating disease, and friends and family members may be spared the harrowing loss of a loved one to Nipah virus.
R&D and manufacturing news
The pioneering library will act as a matchmaking service, helping vaccine developers select the best vaccine-adjuvant combinations to make their vaccines more potent and respond faster to deadly disease outbreaks. Funded by CEPI, the global repository of 25 adjuvants will be hosted by the UK’s MHRA.
CEPI is working with PATH to explore which immune markers may indicate protection against Lassa fever, Mpox, Marburg and Ebola viruses. The new US$8 million project will see experts at CEPI and PATH join forces to create R&D playbooks which map out all available research into specific immune markers, known as Correlates of Protection, that may signal protection against infection or disease and reliably predict the level of a vaccine's effectiveness.
FEEVA (a Framework for Evidence Evaluation in Vaccine Assessment) is a new collaborative project supported by up to US $3 million funding from CEPI and Wellcome Trust . The first-of-its-kind initiative will work with immunologists, vaccine developers and regulators to explore how early evidence on a vaccine’s efficacy could be reviewed by regulators alongside robust safety data to support potential early deployment in an outbreak.
U.S. biotech Pop Bio is being awarded up to US $1.5 million from CEPI to advance research into its SNAP™ (Spontaneous Nanoliposome Antigen Particleization) protein vaccine platform. The novel approach uses protein-tagging technology in nanoparticles that could speed up making vaccines against epidemic and pandemic threats, including a future ‘Disease X’.
Through a newly signed Memorandum of Understanding, the two organisations will be able to coordinate more effectively on projects that enhance the effectiveness of their respective efforts to protect people from the threat of infectious diseases. The agreement lays the foundation for closer coordination on vaccine R&D, supporting the shared goal of developing accessible, affordable, and effective vaccines to better protect global health.
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100 Words On… Correlates of protection
When someone recovers from an infection or is vaccinated against a pathogen, the body generates an immune response to avoid reinfection. This leaves behind immune signals, like antibodies, which indicate protective immunity. Some of these immune responses can serve as correlates of protection (CoP), predicting how well someone is protected against a specific pathogen. Identifying CoPs helps scientists understand the ideal type of immune response a vaccine should stimulate and reliably predict vaccine efficacy, guiding vaccine design and evaluation. Crucially, CoPs can be used to advance vaccine approval during outbreaks if large-scale, efficacy trials aren’t possible, as there are too few cases or outbreaks are too sporadic.
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Other opportunities
➡️ CIHR Leadership Award for Excellence in Vaccine Research (applications close 7th August)
Building on the previous Leadership Award for Excellence in Vaccine Research funding opportunity supported by CEPI and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), CEPI is supporting a new award launched by CIHR. The award aims to support the career development of mid-career researchers in Canada, mobilise new knowledge in vaccine research for infectious diseases and contribute to national and international efforts to prevent and prepare for future global health threats.
The Viral Most Wanted… The Paramyxoviruses
In 1998, on one particular farm in the town of Kampung Sungai Nipah, a fruit bat carrying a virus was able to pass a deadly virus to pigs who ate its leftovers. In turn, the pigs who ate the contaminated fruit scraps were able to pass that same virus on to farm workers. Several of them became sick with a mysterious and frightening illness that sent their bodies into fevers and fits and inflaming their brains.
The virus that produced these devastating symptoms, identified by scientists in 1999 and named Nipah after the village where it first appeared in Malaysia, is currently classified as a member of the Paramyxovirus family.
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📺 Tune in
As part of a “pressure test”, backed by CEPI, scientists at The University of Queensland have been tasked with crafting a vaccine for the Chapare virus in just 150 days, under conditions akin to the time pressure of a real pandemic. This video from the team at UQ provides a candid and accessible overview of their progress so far, starting from Day 0. It explains how they’re using their innovative clamp2 vaccine platform to face this threat within a highly accelerated timeline.
Listen to this podcast featuring CEPI CEO Richard Hatchett, where he discusses health security, equitable access and the 100 Days Mission in a wide-ranging conversation with Elizabeth (Beth) Cameron , Senior Advisor and Professor of the Practice at the Brown University Pandemic Center and Senior Advisor at CSIS.
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Biomédico Cientista Bioinformata cyber data biofísics
2moWell done
Public Health Professional
2moThank you for the update. Can we say that the Nipha virus caused infection is a pandemic?