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$2 million grant supports phase 1 trial for hookworm vaccine
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The NIH granted $2.1 million to researchers at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences for a phase 1 trial assessing a hookworm vaccine in an endemic region in Brazil, according to a press release.
“We have two separate vaccines for hookworm that have each been tested on their own,” principal investigator David Diemert, MD, associate professor of microbiology, immunology and tropical medicine at the university, said in the release. “We would like to combine them into a single product, so we have one vial offering the greatest protection against hookworm.”
For the trial in Brazil, the researchers will administer one or both vaccines to participants to compare their efficacy. During a parallel trial in Africa, funded by the European Commission, all volunteers will receive both vaccines, the release said.
“What we need to know is if by combining these two vaccines, the immune response to either of them is impaired,” Diemert said. “We want to know whether there is competition between the vaccines and if there are any safety risks with combining them.”
Additional NIH funds will be used to assess the vaccine’s efficacy in participants in Washington, D.C., infected with hookworm. The investigation builds on a clinical trial last year, during which researchers infected healthy volunteers to establish a controlled infection model, according to the release.
Disclosure: Infectious Disease News was unable to confirm relevant financial disclosures at the time of publication.