TAG: GS 3: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
THE CONTEXT: A significant new initiative has been launched to accelerate the development of mRNA vaccines targeting the avian influenza virus (H5N1), with a focus on making these vaccines accessible to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
EXPLANATION:
- This project is led by Sinergium Biotech, an Argentinian biopharmaceutical company, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) through the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme.
- The initiative marks a strategic effort to bolster global pandemic preparedness, particularly in regions that have historically faced challenges in accessing advanced health technologies.
mRNA Technology Transfer Programme
- The mRNA Technology Transfer Programme, established in July 2021 by WHO and MPP.
- It was created to enhance the capacity of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in developing and producing mRNA-based vaccines.
- The programme aims to democratize access to vaccine technology.
- It ensures that more countries are equipped to respond effectively to future pandemics.
- This initiative aligns with broader efforts to address global health inequities by fostering local innovation, development, and production capabilities in vaccine manufacturing.
Role of Sinergium Biotech and Project Objectives
- Sinergium Biotech is at the forefront of this initiative, leveraging its expertise to develop candidate vaccines for the H5N1 virus.
- The company has already begun establishing proof-of-concept in preclinical models, which is a critical step in the vaccine development process.
- Once the preclinical studies are complete, Sinergium will share the technology, materials, and expertise with other manufacturing partners involved in the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme.
- This collaborative approach is designed to accelerate the development timeline for H5N1 vaccines and ensure that they are widely accessible, particularly in regions that are most vulnerable to pandemics.
Strategic Importance and Pandemic Preparedness
- The avian influenza virus, H5N1, represents a significant public health risk due to its potential to trigger a pandemic.
- This virus circulates widely in animal populations, and its ability to jump to humans poses a global threat.
- The current initiative not only seeks to address this specific risk but also to strengthen the overall pandemic preparedness framework by ensuring that effective vaccines can be rapidly developed and distributed.
- WHO Director-General emphasized that the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme was designed to build capacity in LMICs for research, development, and production of vaccines.
- He highlighted that the world would be better equipped to respond to future pandemics through such initiatives, which promote more equitable access to life-saving technologies.
Progress and Future Directions
- Since its launch, the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme has made considerable progress.
- The development and implementation of a platform used to establish the immunogenicity, efficacy, and safety of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate in preclinical models is in progress.
- This platform, created and validated at Afrigen in South Africa, is now being adapted for use against other critical disease targets, including H5N1.
- The ongoing efforts by the WHO and MPP to improve the availability, access, and use of mRNA vaccines are crucial for achieving better vaccine equity globally.
- By building local capacity and fostering international collaboration, the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme is setting a precedent for how the global community can work together to combat future pandemics.
H5N1
- Bird flu, also known as avian flu, refers to an infectious viral illness that mainly infects and spreads among poultry and some wild birds.
- There are different strains of bird flu virus, which have been circulating for a very long time among at least 100 bird species, including wild waterfowl, such as ducks and geese, without much harming them.
- From time to time, a form of the flu virus jumps from wild birds to poultry farms, and replicates in cramped warehouses of farmed birds.
- It then quickly evolves into a highly pathogenic flu virus that causes a larger wave of illness and death than usual among birds.
- The currently circulating type of H5N1 is one such highly pathogenic flu virus.
- It has “descended from a virus that caused an outbreak on a goose farm in Guangdong, China, in 1996.
- That virus — one of a type of virus known as H5N1 — was highly pathogenic and killed more than 40 per cent of the farm birds it infected.
- The new version of H5N1 first emerged in Europe in 2020 and then rapidly reached Europe, Africa, and Asia.
- By late 2021, it had spread to North America and in the fall of 2022, it appeared in South America.
- In February 2024, the virus stormed through mainland Antarctica.