A new partnership announced last week between Integrum Scientific and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) will advance progress toward a Rift Valley fever (RVF) vaccine by developing an international antibody standard and validation of new assays.
From now until September 2021, Integrum Scientific will collect serum from RVF survivors in Uganda with the cooperation of the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI). CEPI will support this effort with up to $142,000 in funding, in accordance with the organization’s $3.5 billion plan to address future epidemics. RVF is a priority disease for CEPI, although its effects in humans tend to be relatively mild.
First identified in 1931, RVF has hit Uganda before, along with other parts of Africa, due to transmission by mosquitoes and blood-feeding flies. It can also be spread through contact with infected blood or organs and is fully capable of afflicting both animals and humans. Of particular concern to CEPI is the small percentage of RVF patients that acquire a more severe form of the disease, which can lead to a fatality rate as high as 50 percent. So far, it has stuck mostly to rural communities, but ecological and climate change could alter this.
“Given the potential for Rift Valley fever to cause significant disruption to health, economies, and societies across sub-Saharan Africa and other regions, we need to develop a suite of response tools, including vaccines, to ensure we are well prepared for future outbreaks,” Melanie Saville, director of Vaccine Research and Development for CEPI, said. “However, if we are to successfully fight against the disease, it is paramount that we do not just directly support vaccine development programmes but also the creation and validation of key tools and tests which will be essential in measuring vaccine performance. Our work with Integrum Scientific will therefore lead the way forward in creating antibody standards and calibrating assays so that scientists around the world can successfully assess future Rift Valley fever vaccine candidates.”
No vaccine for RVF is currently approved for human use. Therefore, Integrum Scientific and the UVRI are recruiting patients who have recovered from the disease to donate serum samples full of antibodies for research. Serum will also be collected from healthy donors to offer a baseline for comparison.
Donations will be tested and processed to find the individuals with the highest level of antibodies and therefore inform an International Antibody Standard for RVF against which future vaccines will be judged. At the same time, serum material possessing lower antibody levels will be used to guarantee tests can detect a broad spectrum of antibody levels produced by vaccines in clinical trials.