The two-dose vaccine, which leverages the same mRNA technology used in the Covid-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, and Moderna, offered broad protection against all 20 known influenza A and B virus subtypes
New mRNA-based flu vaccine shows promise results. (Credit: Willfried Wende from Pixabay)
Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine have created a flu vaccine that offers protection against all 20 known influenza A and B virus subtypes.
The initial tests conducted in mice and ferrets showed that the investigational flu vaccine offered broad protection. The results were recently published in a scholarly journal.
The promising study results clear path for a potential universal flu shot that might help prevent future pandemics, reported Reuters.
The two-dose vaccine leverages the same mRNA technology used in the Covid-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, and Moderna.
It works by injecting minute lipid particles containing mRNA instructions into the cells, to create replicas of the targeted hemagglutinin proteins found on influenza virus surfaces.
The study leader Scott Hensley stated: “The idea here is to have a vaccine that will give people a baseline level of immune memory to diverse flu strains so that there will be far less disease and death when the next flu pandemic occurs.”
While standard flu vaccines deliver one or two versions of hemagglutinin, the new vaccine is designed to deliver 20 different types of hemagglutinins to protect against any flu virus.
In lab experiments, the vaccinated animals showed an immune response against 18 different strains of influenza A and two strains of influenza B.
The vaccine-induced antibody levels were sustained for at least four months.
Also, the vaccine reduced signs of illness and protected them from death when the ferrets were exposed to a different type of flu not in the vaccine, according to the research publication.
Moderna and Pfizer have mRNA flu vaccines in late-stage human trials, and GSK and CureVac are testing their mRNA flu vaccine in an early-stage human trial.
Their vaccines would protect against only four recently-circulating influenza strains, reported Reuters.
Hensley added: “The universal flu vaccine, if successful in human trials, would not necessarily prevent infection. The goal is to provide durable protection against severe disease and death.”