A leading scientist believes a new universal vaccine that could protect the public from a potentially devastating flu pandemic, could be rolled out within the next couple of years.
An experimental vaccine has been discovered to protect mice and ferrets against severe influenza, which is based on the same mRNA technology used in the Covid jabs from Modern and Pfizer. It will pave the way for clinical trials in humans, the Guardian reports.
Professor John Oxford, who is a virologist at Queen Mary University in London, who was not involved in the work, but said the vaccine developed at the University of Pennsylvania could be ready for use the winter after next. He explained that the vastly experienced team had mixed 20 strains of flu together and got a response to every strain.
He said: “I cannot emphasise enough what a breakthrough this paper is. The potential is huge, and I think sometimes we underestimate these big respiratory viruses.”
About 30 or 40 volunteers would be needed for a phase 1 clinical trial, he said, with the first data possibly coming within the next six months. Researchers have been working on universal flu vaccines for more than a decade, but the latest breakthrough, published in Science, is seen as a major step towards a universal jab.
The professor predicts the vaccine to save thousands of lives. But while the results from the animal tests are promising, clinical trials are needed to see whether the vaccine protects humans in the same way without causing problematic side-effects.
The vaccine raises questions for regulators around whether to approve a shot that could protect against viruses with pandemic potential, but which have not yet actually emerged.
“This vaccine has only been tested in animals so far and it will be important to investigate its safety and efficacy in humans,” said Dr Andrew Freedman, a reader in infectious diseases at Cardiff University. “It does seem a very promising approach to the goal of producing a universal flu vaccine as well as vaccines that protect against multiple members of other viral families such as rhino- and corona-viruses.”
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