NIH recruits volunteers in preliminary trial for universal mRNA-based flu vaccine

CNN
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The National Institutes of Health is currently recruiting participants to test a universal flu vaccine using mRNA technology.

The NIH is looking for 50 volunteers between the ages of 18 and 49 for the Phase 1 trial at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

“A universal influenza vaccine would be a major public health achievement and could eliminate both the need for annual development of seasonal influenza vaccines, as well as the need for patients to get their influenza vaccine each year. said NIAID Acting Director Dr. Hugh Auchincloss. in a Press release. “In addition, certain strains of the influenza virus have significant pandemic potential. A universal influenza vaccine could be an important line of defense against the spread of a future influenza pandemic.

This preliminary trial will evaluate the best dosage for the experimental vaccine while comparing its immunogenicity and safety to current seasonal influenza vaccines. Trial participants will be followed for up to a year after vaccination to primarily monitor its safety, but also its effectiveness.

Between 2010 and 2020, between 140,000 and 710,000 people were hospitalized and between 12,000 and 52,000 deaths from influenza each year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There are several universal influenza vaccines in various stages of development and testing. The vaccines use the same mRNA technology found in the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines, but scientists began these experiments in 2017, years before the first Covid-19 vaccines were administered.