Emergent BioSolutions Announces Interim Results From Phase 2 Study Evaluating CHIKV-VLP, Chikungunya Virus Vaccine Candidate
“Emergent is highly encouraged about our vaccine candidate as the interim data suggest that a single dose of the vaccine was able to generate a positive immune response, which persisted through the study participants’ visits at six months,” said
Virus-like particle (VLP) vaccines are multi-protein structures that mimic the organization and conformation of naturally occurring viruses, without the viral genome, that could potentially promote a stronger immune response and increased antibody production. Studies have shown that VLP vaccines are highly immunogenic, have a proven safety record, and typically elicit high titer neutralizing antibodies needed to protect against chikungunya virus.2
This Phase 2 parallel-group, randomized, double-blind, dose-finding study involved 415 healthy adults in three U.S. sites. Participants were given a 1- or 2-dose series with or without an adjuvant over a 4-week period. Seroconversion occurred in 74% to 98% of subjects within 7 days after one dose, and in all subjects by 28 days after the last dose. The vaccine candidate was well-tolerated across all study arms and no significant vaccine-related safety concerns have been identified in analyses to date.
The CHIKV-VLP chikungunya virus vaccine candidate is licensed from the
About the Chikungunya virus
Chikungunya virus is spread to people through infected mosquitoes. Symptoms include fever, joint pain, headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, or rash. Chikungunya outbreaks have occurred in countries in
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1 Braira Wahida,
2 Akahata W, Yang ZY, Andersen H, et al. A virus-like particle vaccine for epidemic chikungunya virus protects nonhuman primates against infection. Nat Med 2010; 16: 334–38.
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