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Research Roundup: Bacteria-infected mosquitoes to fight dengue, BARDA to fund Marburg and Ebola vaccines, and saliva test to diagnose malaria

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PATH/Carib Nelson

In this regular feature on Breakthroughs, we highlight some of the most interesting reads in global health research from the past week.

October 7, 2019 by Ansley Kahn

Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign-up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email.

Since 2015, scientists from the Fiocruz Institute in Brazil have been infecting mosquitoes with Wolbachia bacteria in a lab and then releasing them into the wild in trial tests in the hopes of slowing the spread of mosquito-borne diseases like dengue. Wolbachia bacteria—common among insects except the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits dengue, Zika, and chikungunya—works by boosting a mosquito's immune system, making it less likely to contract disease. However, if a mosquito does contract dengue, Wolbachia makes it harder for the virus to grow inside the insect and be transmitted to humans. The hope is that the lab-infected mosquitoes will reproduce with wild mosquitoes, spreading the bacteria through the population. Scientists report “significant reductions” in cases of dengue and chikungunya in neighborhoods near where mosquitoes were released. Tests also show more than 90 percent of mosquitoes in areas where the first infected insects were released more than three years ago have the bacteria. Scientists see this technique as one in a suite of tools to control mosquito populations and halt the spread of disease.

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) awarded the Sabin Vaccine Institute (Sabin) an initial US$20.5 million, with options for an additional $107.5 million, to support development of vaccines against Marburg virus and Sudan Ebola virus. With the initial award, Sabin will conduct development and non-clinical activities with the intent of continuing clinical research through phase 2 trials, which may be supported by the additional funding. The Sudan Ebola vaccine candidate is the first of this virus strain to receive BARDA support and the Marburg vaccine candidate is the second to receive BARDA support. BARDA is also supporting the development of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics against the Ebola virus strain causing the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

For the first time, researchers have developed a rapid diagnostic test that uses a biomarker in saliva to detect the mosquito-borne parasite that causes malaria. The test, which will be marketed as SALVA!, is less invasive than traditional malaria diagnostics, which require a blood sample, and can even detect the disease before people carrying the parasite show symptoms or fall ill. Easy-to-administer at the community level, the test also delivers results in five to twenty minutes without samples being sent to a lab. Global Health Innovative Technology Fund has awarded the test’s developers more than £1 million for field trials and continued development. The World Health Organization has called for more new tools to detect malaria, a disease for which there are more than 200 million cases worldwide each year.

Categories: Diagnostics, Ebola, Malaria, Vaccines

About the author

Ansley KahnGHTC

Ansley Kahn is a senior program assistant at GHTC who supports GHTC's communications and member engagement activities.

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Written by Ansley Kahn / GHTC
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Research Roundup: Antibody to combat malaria, BARDA to advance Ebola treatment, and UHC High-Level Meeting

Written by Ansley Kahn / GHTC
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Interested in more global health innovation news? Every week GHTC scours media reports worldwide to deliver essential global health R&D news and content to your inbox. Sign-up now to receive our weekly R&D News Roundup email. A study has revealed that an antibody, known as IgM, is far more influential in combating malaria than previously thought—which may have important implications on the development of a malaria vaccine. It was previously thought that IgM played a supporting role in the body’s immune response to malaria, that it would initiate this response and then disappear when the primary antibody, IgG, took over. However, this new research shows IgM acting as a co-lead with IgG to block and clear malaria infection in the blood. As a next step, scientists are seeking to understand why the immune system generates both antibodies in response to malaria infection and determine whether vaccines that stimulate an immune system to produce IgM antibodies give better protection against malaria. Researchers hope this new insight brings them one step closer to developing a highly effective vaccine against malaria. The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) announced that it will provide US$14 million and organizational expertise to support the continued development of the investigational Ebola treatment known as mAb114. BARDA will assist Ridgeback Biotherapeutics of Miami, the company manufacturing mAb114, with its application for licensure with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). mAb114, a monoclonal antibody that works by binding to virus proteins, thus reducing their ability to infect human cells, is currently being used in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help combat the ongoing Ebola outbreak as part of a clinical trial. mAb114 has already obtained an FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation, which allows participating companies to work more closely with FDA officials in pushing for approval. Last week, at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC), member states reached a comprehensive agreement which commits countries to advance UHC for their citizenry. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the political declaration “the most comprehensive agreement ever reached on global health” and a “significant achievement” that will drive progress over the next decade on tackling diseases like HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, along with the growing burden of non-communicable diseases and antimicrobial resistance through primary health care systems. In adopting the declaration, member states have committed to investing in policies that expand access to health care while preventing financial hardship and developing and implementing high-impact health interventions to combat diseases and protect women’s and children’s health.