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Zika virus (ZIKV) is a flavivirus transmitted by mosquitos that is strongly linked to neurological complications including Guillain-Barré syndrome, meningoencephalitis, and microcephaly. The association between active ZIKV infection during pregnancy and microcephaly and intrauterine growth retardation in the fetus has been confirmed in murine models of ZIKV infection.

Many members of the Flaviviridae family are emerging and reemerging human pathogens that have caused outbreaks of devastating and often fatal diseases and represent a serious public health problem on a global scale. There is no single attenuation strategy that exists which is sufficient to prepare a safe, efficacious and immunogenic live attenuated virus vaccine that will work universally for Flaviviridae.

An arthropod-borne virus, Zika virus (ZIKV), has recently emerged as a major human pathogen. Associated with complications during perinatal development and Guillain-Barré syndrome in adults, ZIKV raises new challenges for understanding the molecular determinants of flavivirus pathogenesis. This underscores the necessity for the development of a reverse genetic system based on an epidemic ZIKV strain. This technology relates to the generation and characterization in cell cultures of an infectious cDNA clone of ZIKV isolated from the 2015 epidemic in Brazil.

This application claims live attenuated Zika viruses and vaccines, attenuated chimeric Zika viruses and vaccines, and multivalent immunogenic compositions comprising Zika vaccines and vaccines for other flaviviruses. The chimeric Zika viruses claimed include a first nucleotide sequence encoding at least one structural protein from a Zika virus (ZIKV), a second nucleotide sequence encoding at least one nonstructural protein from a first flavivirus, and a third nucleotide sequence of a 3' untranslated region from a second flavivirus.

Inhibiting the ability of HIV-1, the virus that causes AIDS, to infect cells is one approach to both prevention and treatment of HIV. Scientists at the NIAID Vaccine Research Center have isolated and characterized neutralizing antibodies (VRC01, 02, 03, and 07) that bind to the CD4 binding site of HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein gp120. These human monoclonal antibodies can potentially be used as a therapeutic to: (1) treat an HIV infection, (2) decrease and prevent HIV-transmission from mother to infant, and (3) be effectively combined with anti-retroviral drug therapy.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has invented three chlamydial vaccine technologies, which have shown promising preclinical efficacy. Chlamydia trachomatis infection is the most common sexually transmitted bacterial infection. If left untreated, chlamydia infection can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility. Chlamydia is also the leading cause of preventable blindness in the world. Despite increased surveillance, prevalence continues to increase, and the need to develop an effective chlamydial vaccine remains.

Technologies:

Rotavirus is a highly contagious, diarrhea-inducing pathogen that annually causes approximately 250,000 deaths worldwide and millions of hospitalizations, especially afflicting infants and young children. One strategy to combat this virus is through vaccination. Continuing safety and efficacy concerns with the currently existing live, oral vaccines against rotavirus have led researchers to search for alternative treatment approaches, such as vaccines containing inactivated rotavirus.

The technology relates to a protein-based nanoparticle platform that allows presentation of immunogenic molecules such as influenza virus antigens. This protein platform is made up of hepatitis B capsid/core proteins. The core proteins contain immunogenic loop c/e1, where other antigens can be inserted and the chimeric protein retains the ability to form capsid-like particles. The technology describes the insertion of one or more copies of influenza epitopes derived from the globular head or the stem region of hemagglutinin protein into or around the c/e1 loop of the core protein.

Rotaviral infection is the most common gastrointestinal illness of children in the world, affecting both developed and developing economies. There is no specific drug treatment for rotavirus infection. Vaccination and good hygiene are key to prevention.

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) continues to be the leading viral cause of severe acute lower respiratory tract disease in infants and children worldwide. A licensed vaccine or antiviral drug suitable for routine use remains unavailable. This invention relates to the use of murine pneumonia virus (MPV), a virus to which humans normally are not exposed to and that is not cross-protected with RSV, as a vector to express the RSV fusion (F) glycoprotein as an RSV vaccine candidate. The RSV F ORF was codon optimized.