Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an alphavirus that has gained significant attention due to its ability to cause largeepidemics among susceptible populations and to be spread beyond endemic countries by international travelers.Among a population of approximately 750,000 on the French island of La Reunion, 266,000 people were infectedand over 200 CHIKV-related fatalities occurred during the 2006 outbreak. Likewise, an estimated 1.4 millionpeople were infected with CHIKV in India during outbreaks that occurred from 2006 to 2007 and recently therehave been more than 1.7 million people infected with CHIKV in the Caribbean and the Americas. At present,there is no commercial vaccine available for CHIKV. The development of an inactivated CHIKV vaccine suitablefor immunizing the general population as well as vulnerable groups including infants and the elderly representsan important unmet clinical need. To address this critical unmet need, we have discovered a safe andimmunogenic peroxide-inactivated chikungunya virus vaccine, HydroVax-CHIKV. Importantly, this advancedvaccine is safe and provides complete protection against infection and CHIKV-associated pathology in a robustmouse model. Here, we propose a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 1 dose escalation trialto evaluate the preliminary safety and immunogenicity of HydroVax-CHIKV. Our goal is to eventually providevaccine coverage to vulnerable populations and the successful completion of this study will represent a keymilestone in the advancement of a clinically relevant vaccine against chikungunya virus and provide a much-needed approach to protect the most susceptible members of society including infants, elderly, and those withpotentially compromised immune functions.
Public Health Relevance Statement: In this proposal, we provide preclinical data demonstrating the safety, immunogenicity, and protective efficacy of
an advanced HydroVax vaccine platform and propose to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of a novel
peroxide-inactivated whole-virus chikungunya virus vaccine in a double-blind placebo-controlled Phase 1 clinical
trial.
Project Terms: <21+ years old>
