New DNA vaccine boasts complete protection against Mayaro virus in preclinical studies

Preclinical trials shone for a new synthetic DNA vaccine developed by the Wistar Institute this week when results published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases showed complete protection offered against the mosquito-borne Mayaro virus (MAYV).

“Although MAYV was discovered a long time ago and can cause severe health complications, it remains a neglected disease and is understudied,” said Kar Muthumani, director of the Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases at The Wistar Institute and assistant professor in Wistar’s Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center. “The potential for this virus to spread beyond its historical geographic range, as Zika virus did a few years ago, makes the creation of an effective immunization strategy even more pressing.”

Since its discovery in 1954, MAYV has largely been confined to the heavily forested areas of Trinidad and Tobago and the neighboring regions of South America. It causes fever, rash, headache, nausea, and vomiting for prolonged periods in many people and can lead to persistent and debilitating muscle and joint pain in some patients. Before now, the disease lacked any approved treatments or preventative medicines.

The new drug potentially changes that by inducing specific immune responses within patients. The drug both improved cellular responses in mice, as well as introduced infection-neutralizing antibodies.

Its developers hope the drug is a good candidate for further testing, given its easy design and manufacturing and low-cost distribution capabilities, making it especially appealing for low resource regions, where MAYV tends to appear.