Technology transfer takes time. And for vaccines the impact can be huge. U.S. FDA approves the world's first Chikungunya vaccine. Nine years from bench to bedside. Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is transmitted by mosquitos and causes a disease, characterized by fever, severe joint pain, nausea, fatigue, headache, and rash, identified in over 100 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
Guess what, the Δ5nsP3 live-attenuated Chikungunya vaccine candidate was designed, cloned, and characterized by researchers of University of Tartu — professor Andres Merits' group. The preclinical research was performed by researchers of CEA-iMETI & University Paris-Sud XI (prof. Roger Le Grand's group) and Karolinska Institutet (prof. Peter Liljeström's group). The results published March 2014 (J Virol). Check the plaque titration plate for the Δ5nsP3 live-attenuated virus below (Image courtesy of Journal of Virology).
Hallengärd, D., Kakoulidou, M., Lulla, A., Kümmerer, B.M., Johansson, D.X., Mutso, M., Lulla, V., Fazakerley, J.K., Roques, P., Le Grand, R., Merits, A. and Liljeström, P. 2014. Novel attenuated Chikungunya vaccine candidates elicit protective immunity in C57BL/6 mice. Journal of Virology, 88(5), pp.2858-2866.
A phase I, randomized controlled trial results obtained by Dr. Nina Wressnigg-led group at Valneva with single shot of Δ5nsP3 analogue in healthy adults were published in 2020 (Lancet Infect Dis). Safety and immunogenicity of a single-shot live-attenuated Chikungunya vaccine: a double-blind, multicentre, randomized, placebo-controlled, phase III trial results obtained by the group led by Dr. Martina Schneider were published June 2023 (Lancet).
Congratulations, Andres and Team!