The emergence of a second mpox outbreak in which the virus is spreading from person-to-person, as well as a sharp increase in overall cases of the disease in several African countries, is straining the world’s capacity to make and distribute vaccine to battle the threat. New options are needed, and a study published Wednesday suggests another may be on the horizon.
The vaccine manufacturer Moderna reported in the journal Cell that a messenger RNA-based mpox vaccine that it is developing was more protective than a vaccine made using the same platform as Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos vaccine in a study in which non-human primates were vaccinated, then deliberately infected with mpox.
All the animals vaccinated with either vaccine survived what would otherwise have been a lethal challenge with an injection of the mpox virus, the study reported. But four of six primates that received the vaccine formulated to mimic the Jynneos vaccine nevertheless went on to develop enough lesions to meet the World Health Organization’s criteria for “grave” disease (more than 250 lesions).
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