MVA-MERS-S-Phase1b
The MVA-MERS-S-Phase1b trial is a two-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase Ib study to assess the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of two ascending doses of the candidate vaccine MVA-MERS-S_DF-1 in healthy study subjects.
The MVA-MERS-S vaccine had already proven to be well tolerated in a first clinical pilot study on 23 subjects, triggering a persistent antibody formation. The ongoing trial tests the vaccine in a total of 145 people.
The vaccine study is carried out at the UKE in Hamburg in collaboration with the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam . The international vaccine initiative CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) supports the development of the vaccine against the MERS coronavirus.
The MERS coronavirus vaccine has been developed in a collaboration between the German Center for Infection Research ( DZIF ) and the IDT Biologika GmbH . It is based on an attenuated viral vector (MVA: Modified Vaccinia Ankara). The Spike-Antigen of the MERS coronavirus was incorporated into the viral vector. This recombinant, vector-based vaccine, is intended to induce immunity against the MERS coronavirus. Prof. Gerd Sutter (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich) developed the vector at the DZIF in collaboration with the team led by Prof. Stephan Becker (Philipps University of Marburg).