We live in a world where today’s outbreak can easily become tomorrow’s pandemic. Vaccines can change that.
Better outbreak preparedness is a global priority. IAVI and our partners are developing vaccine candidates for several emerging infectious diseases (EIDs). Our goal is to develop and test vaccines that are needed to prepare for future and ongoing outbreaks.
Using proven vaccine technology can accelerate vaccine development for outbreak pathogens (source: The Lancet Global Health). IAVI’s EID vaccine candidates are built on the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) vaccine platform. VSV is already the backbone of a single-dose Zaire Ebolavirus vaccine that has been used extensively for immunizing adults and children. It’s licensed in more than a dozen countries (source: WHO Vaccine Prioritization Working Group).
Scientists at the U.S.-based IAVI Vaccine Design & Development Laboratory (DDL) are leading experts in VSV vaccine design. This team first honed its skills in HIV and now also designs IAVI’s EID VSV vaccine candidates. Watch this video on how VSV vaccines work.
We’re targeting priority pathogens
- Since 2018, IAVI has been pursuing the development of EID vaccines, building on more than two decades of experience and international collaboration in HIV vaccine development.
- IAVI’s EID vaccine candidates all address viruses that cause repeated outbreaks with high case fatality rates and are likely to cause public health emergencies of international concern: Lassa virus (LASV), Marburg virus (MARV), and Sudan virus (SUDV).
- These EIDs are all included in the World Health Organization (WHO) pathogen prioritization framework as priority pathogen for which vaccines are urgently needed.
- These EIDs are all zoonotic, or animal-borne, and emerged in humans through a complex biological process known as spillover. Spillover events are increasing with the effects of climate change (source: Emerg Infect Dis. 2023 Mar; 29(3): e221079.).
More about LASV
- No vaccines or specific treatments available
- Transmitted via animal reservoir (rats) and direct contact with a symptomatic person or their infectious bodily fluids
- Causes a range of symptoms including flu-like symptoms; 20% of people with LASV infection develop serious symptoms including widespread bleeding and major organ failure
- Some survivors experience permanent deafness
More about MARV
- No vaccines or specific treatments available
- Transmitted to humans through contact with infected fruit bats
- Spreads from person to person through direct contact with infectious bodily fluids
- Symptoms can include high fever, severe headache, malaise, and gastrointestinal symptoms. Severe disease can include abnormal bleeding.
- Outbreaks appear to be on the rise: in 2024, Rwanda became the fifth new country in three years to experience its first outbreak.
More about SUDV
- Highly infectious pathogen
- No vaccines or specific treatments available
- Severe illness is fatal if left untreated using supportive care
- Can cause a range of symptoms including flu-like symptoms, widespread bleeding, and even death
- Transmitted by animal reservoir (bats) and direct contact with a symptomatic person or their infectious bodily fluids
- Can persist in fluids and certain tissues for over a year
- Frequency of outbreaks is increasing over time
- Cases can cross borders to spread infection
We’re strengthening local capacity and global preparedness for epidemic response
- We don’t know the true disease burden of most EIDs due to lack of surveillance. IAVI has conducted the largest study of Lassa fever incidence in Sierra Leone in harmony with the ENABLE cohort study – the largest Lassa hemorrhagic fever research project ever implemented in Guinea.
- The Lassa Fever Vaccine Efficacy and Prevention for West Africa (LEAP4WA) program is advancing IAVI’s Lassa fever vaccine candidate into the later development stages. It’s a multidisciplinary consortium of seven leading research institutions in Africa, Europe, and North America.
- We are pursuing fast, flexible manufacturing solutions. For example, in partnership with the Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) in Senegal, we’re prioritizing the manufacturing and commercialization of and access to IAVI’s LASV vaccine candidate, with the potential to advance EID vaccine candidates, including multivalent vaccines.
- Communities are the backbone of vaccine research. IAVI’s community engagement team partners with local organizations to inform our clinical trial designs.
- We collaborate closely with the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium, a group of experts in endemic countries.
Learn more about IAVI’s EID portfolio
- Study: Nonhuman Primates Are Protected against Marburg Virus Disease by Vaccination with a Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Vector-Based Vaccine Prepared under Conditions to Allow Advancement to Human Clinical Trials (Vaccines)
- Press release: Participants in Nigeria vaccinated in first-ever Phase 2 Lassa fever vaccine clinical trial, sponsored by IAVI
- Perspective co-authored by IAVI’s Swati Gupta: Lassa fever research priorities: towards effective medical countermeasures by the end of the decade (The Lancet)
- Opinion by IAVI’s Gaudensia Mutua: New Lassa vaccine trial puts African experts at the helm (The Guardian Nigeria)