Abstract
As the global response to COVID-19 continues, government stakeholders and private partners must keep an eye on the future for the next emerging viral threat with pandemic potential. Many of the virus families considered to be among these threats currently cause sporadic outbreaks of unpredictable size and timing. This represents a major challenge in terms of both obtaining sufficient funding to develop vaccines, and the ability to evaluate clinical efficacy in the field. However, this also presents an opportunity in which vaccines, along with robust diagnostics and contact tracing, can be utilized to respond to outbreaks as they occur, and limit the potential for further spread of the disease in question. While mRNA-based vaccines have proven, during the COVID-19 response, to be an effective and safe solution in terms of providing a rapid response to vaccine development, virus vector-based vaccines represent a class of vaccines that can offer key advantages in certain performance characteristics with regard to viruses of pandemic potential. Here, we will discuss some of the key pros and cons of viral vector vaccines in the context of preparing for future pandemics.
Highlights
As of the end of January 2022, there have been over 373 million diagnosed cases of COVID-19, with more than 5.65 million deaths worldwide [1]
With the goal of pandemic preparedness in mind, it will remain critical that we find the right vaccine for each respective threat
The first approved Ad26 vector vaccine was authorized under exceptional circumstances by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in 2020 for Ebola virus when combined with a heterologous boost of a modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vector-based vaccine known as Zabdeno and Mvabea [43]
Summary
As of the end of January 2022, there have been over 373 million diagnosed cases of COVID-19, with more than 5.65 million deaths worldwide [1]. There are several viral threats identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as representing major public health risks due to their potential to cause epidemics and pandemics These include severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus (CoV) 2, or SARS-CoV-2, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), SARS-CoV, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, Ebola viruses, Marburg virus, Lassa virus, Nipah virus, Hendra virus, Rift Valley fever virus, Zika virus, and “disease X” [2]. While there is an understandable push to leverage “platform” technologies that could represent rapid plug-and-play solutions as part of a vaccine response, the most critical aspect is that the right vaccine technology is utilized for the threat in question In some cases, such as Ebola and Lassa viruses, this may mean viral vector vaccines due to the ability to provide rapid onset to protection with a single dose. We will focus on those virus vectors that have proceeded to clinical development, and how these vectors could be applied to emerging viral threats of pandemic potential
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