A new mRNA vaccine against the H5N1 virus has shown promising results in preventing severe disease and death in animal models, potentially offering a rapid response to future influenza pandemics. Experimental mRNA vaccine proves highly effective against H5N1 in animal studies, offering hope for rapid pandemic response. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have developed an experimental mRNA vaccine against avian influenza virus H5N1.
The vaccine is highly effective in preventing severe illness and death in preclinical models and could help manage the current H5N1 outbreaks in birds and cattle in the United States and prevent its transmission to humans. This research was recently published in Nature Communications . Advantages of mRNA Technology in Vaccine Development Scott Hensley, PhD, a professor of Microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine, highlighted the flexibility of mRNA technology in vaccine development.
“The mRNA technology allows us to be much more agile in developing vaccines; we can start creating an mRNA vaccine within hours of sequencing a new viral strain with pandemic potential,” he explained. “During previous influenza pandemics, like the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, vaccines were difficult to manufacture and did not become available until after the initial pandemic waves subsided.” Scott Hensley, PhD.
Credit: Penn Medicine Collaboration and Historical Context Hensley’s laboratory worked on this study in c.
