Breakthrough may mean universal flu vaccine available in ‘five years’

By Stephen Beech via SWNS

One flu jab for all strains of the virus could be available within FIVE years following an "exciting" breakthrough.

American scientists used a new vaccine platform to target the interior of the potentially deadly pathogen.

They say the same method could be used against other mutating viruses, such as COVID-19, capable of triggering future pandemics.

The theory has been validated using the particularly deadly 1918 flu virus - or "Spanish flu" - that killed up to 50 million people worldwide.

A universal flu vaccine would be effective against all human-adapted strains of influenza, and would not require modification from year to year in order to keep up with changes in the virus.

A so-called “one and done” jab that confers lifetime immunity against an evolving virus has never been successfully developed.

But now new research, led by Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) scientists, has discovered a "promising" approach to creating one.

The study involved testing an OHSU-developed vaccine platform against the virus considered most likely to trigger the next pandemic.

Researchers say the vaccine generated a "robust" immune response in non-human primates that were exposed to the avian H5N1 flu virus.

The vaccine wasn’t based on the contemporary H5N1 virus, with the primates instead inoculated against the deadly 1918 flu virus.

Senior author Professor Jonah Sacha, of OHSU, said: “It’s exciting because in most cases, this kind of basic science research advances the science very gradually; in 20 years, it might become something.

“This could actually become a vaccine in five years or less.”

He said six of 11 primates inoculated against the virus that circulated a century ago survived exposure to one of the deadliest viruses in the world today, H5N1.

However, a control group of six unvaccinated primates exposed to the H5N1 virus succumbed to the disease.

Sacha believes the platform “absolutely” could be useful against other mutating viruses, including SARS-CoV-2.

He said: “It’s a very viable approach.

“For viruses of pandemic potential, it’s critical to have something like this.

"We set out to test influenza, but we don’t know what’s going to come next.”

Senior co-author Professor Douglas Reed, of the University of Pittsburgh, said: “Should a deadly virus such as H5N1 infect a human and ignite a pandemic, we need to quickly validate and deploy a new vaccine."

The new approach harnesses a vaccine platform previously developed by scientists at OHSU to fight HIV and tuberculosis and is already being used in a clinical trial against HIV.

The method involves inserting small pieces of target pathogens into the common herpes virus cytomegalovirus, or CMV, which infects most people in their lifetimes and typically produces mild or no symptoms.

The virus acts as a vector specifically designed to induce an immune response from the body’s own T cells.

The research team explained that the approach differs from common vaccines - including existing flu jabs - which are designed to induce an antibody response that targets the most recent evolution of the virus.

Sacha said: “The problem with influenza is that it’s not just one virus.

“Like the SARS-CoV-2 virus, it’s always evolving the next variant and we’re always left to chase where the virus was, not where it’s going to be.”

He says the spike proteins on the virus exterior surface evolve to elude antibodies.

In the case of flu, vaccines are updated regularly using a "best estimate" of the next evolution of the virus. - but they are not always accurate.

The research team designed a CMV-based vaccine using the 1918 flu virus as a template.

They exposed the vaccinated primates to small particle aerosols containing the avian H5N1 influenza virus - a particularly severe virus that is currently circulating among dairy cows in the United States.

Six of the 11 vaccinated primates survived the exposure, despite the century-long period of virus evolution.

Sacha said: “It worked because the interior protein of the virus was so well preserved.

“So much so, that even after almost 100 years of evolution, the virus can’t change those critically important parts of itself.”

The researchers say their findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, raise the potential for developing a protective vaccine against H5N1 in people.

Co-senior author Professor Simon Barratt-Boyes, also of the University of Pittsburgh, said: "Inhalation of aerosolized H5N1 influenza virus causes a cascade of events that can trigger respiratory failure.

“The immunity induced by the vaccine was sufficient to limit virus infection and lung damage, protecting the monkeys from this very serious infection.”

By synthesizing more up-to-date virus templates, the researchers say CMV vaccines may be able to generate an effective, long-lasting immune response against a "wide suite" of new variants.

Sacha said: “I think it means within five to 10 years, a one-and-done shot for influenza is realistic."

The same CMV platform developed by OHSU researchers has advanced to a clinical trial to protect against HIV, and a recent publication by those scientists suggests it may even be useful in targeting specific cancer cells.

Sacha added: “It’s a massive sea change within our lifetimes.

“There is no question we are on the cusp of the next generation of how we address infectious disease.”