Expanding a prospective, clinical trial examining the immune response of participants receiving Modified Vaccinia Ankara vaccine to Africa

Who are we?

The Mpox AFRIVAC Project gathers an interdisciplinary consortium of internationally recognised research leaders from 6 Partner institutions from Europe and Africa with the overall ambition to rapidly deploy technology and develop new knowledge that contributes to ending the curren Mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and surrounding countries.

The Mpox epidemic in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is accelerating at an alarming rate, and a significant number of cases have been reported beyond DRC's borders. The surge has led the World Health Organisation (WHO) to issue its highest global health alert - a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). According to the latest available data, the cumulative number of cases in DRC for 2024 is over 20,000, including over 600 deaths, with cases reported in 13 countries across the African continent.

The scope of the Mpox AFRIVAC Project includes sharing of new technology in Mpox diagnostics with affected countries, determining the relative immunogenicity of Mpox vaccination in immunosuppressed individuals and women as well as comparing the durability of immune responses in different populations (European versus African). By significantly leveraging the clinical and laboratory structure developed by the pre-existing MpoxVax trial, this new knowledge, generated by experienced researchers in populations most affected, is realistic to complete within the indicated budget and available timelines. Additionally, this Project will contribute to wider research to determine a correlate of protection that can be used clinically to determine vaccine effectiveness in terms of thresholds of immunity as well as appropriate interval re-vaccination strategies. The partners link expertise in vaccine clinical trials, virology, diagnostics development, biobanking and global health, focused on countries and populations most affected by Mpox, that are capable of successfully realising the Mpox AFRIVAC Project’s ambition.

Objective 1

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Objective 2

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Objective 3

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Who is involved in this project?

A brief description of the countries involved in the project (without describing the people, that will be in more detail in about us)

UCD

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND

MLI

MAKERERE UNIVERSITY LUNG INSTITUTE, UGANDA

UNHRO

UGANDA NATIONAL HEALTH RESEARCH ORGANISATION

USTAN

UCB

THE UNIVERSITY COURT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS, UK

UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE BUKAVU, DRC

NMIR

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR MEDICAL RESEARCH, TANZANIA

Work Packages of the project

A brief description of the Work Packages of this project, maybe touching in some of the importan

Work Package 01.

Project Management and Consortium Coordination

WP1 comprises all managerial and coordination activities that ensure MpoxVax AFRIVAC meets its defined objectives and overall ambition.

Work Package 02.

Scientific Project Leadership and Clinical Trial

WP2 will adapt and conduct the MpoxVax clinical trial for the evaluation of humoral immune responses of participants at risk of Mpox infection receiving the Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vaccine in Uganda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Work Package 03.

Laboratory assays and biobanking

Set up the laboratory assay harmonisation programme including quality control/ quality assurance among the participating laboratories and to adapt and validate the novel serological immunoassay

Work Package 04.

Training and Dissemination

WP04 will be responsible for Community Engagement, Knowledge Exchange and technology transfer for the project. 

This trial is uniquely important as it will study the immune responses to the vaccine already earmarked for epidemic control in affected countries; in many instances vaccines deployed in Africa have had their early phases done in other settings. There are many reasons why immune responses could differ ranging from genetics to different immune priming from many infections endemic in Africa. This trial will provide this data that could help refine how the vaccine is used.
Professor Bruce Kirenga
Chair of the Interdisciplinary Consortium for Epidemic Research (ICER)
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