Disease and Epidemiology:
Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne viral infection transmitted to humans through a bite from an infected mosquito. Dengue is characterized by severe headaches, muscle and joint pains and a rash. It can be a severely debilitating disease and in the worst cases can lead to death. According to the WHO, Dengue is epidemic in over 100 countries, with up to 2.5 billion people at risk of catching the infection. Dengue infections are widespread in most tropical countries of South and Central America, Asia, Africa, Pacific-bordering countries, the Caribbean, and Australia.
As there is no vaccine or widely accepted therapy available, both travelers and those living in affected countries would benefit from a vaccine.
Our Vaccine Candidate:
There are four circulating Dengue virus strains, and a vaccine will need to achieve protection against all of them. We have synthesized a number of vaccine constructs that have already undergone mouse immunogenicity testing. As with all dengue vaccine projects, homogeneous immune response over the four different dengue strains will be important. Recent mouse experiment data have now shown impressive immunogenicity data for two constructs. These constructs will now be further tested in monkey experiments, where both immunogenicity and efficacy endpoints.
If successful, formal toxicity studies and GMP manufacturing will be the next steps, followed by the start of a Phase 1 clinical trial in 2012.