Researchers have taken a potential step closer to what the director of the National Institutes of Health predicts will be one of the 10 medical breakthroughs of the next 10 years with the launch of the agency’s first clinical trial of a flu vaccine that may be able to provide long-lasting protection for all age groups from multiple influenza subtypes, including those that might cause a pandemic.
The study of the so-called “universal” flu vaccine, which Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., in a tweet described as an “encouraging” step, was announced Wednesday.
“Seasonal influenza is a perpetual public health challenge, and we continually face the possibility of an influenza pandemic resulting from the emergence and spread of novel influenza viruses,” said Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, developer of the vaccine, which is known as H1ssF_3928.
“This Phase 1 clinical trial is a step forward in our efforts to develop a durable and broadly protective universal influenza vaccine,” he added.
The trial gradually will enroll at least 53 healthy adults aged 18 to 70 years. They will not be exposed to any influenza virus as part of the clinical trial.
Investigators hope to understand how participants’ immune responses to the experimental vaccine may vary based on age and the likelihood of their previous exposure to different influenza variants.
The researchers expect enrollment in the clinical trial to be complete by the end of this year and to begin reporting results early next year.
Older adults are among the most vulnerable to flu complications, according to the federal government.
