New MRNA vaccines aim at a variety of viral and bacterial pathogenic

In recent years, MRNA technology has come for its own and most in the area of ​​vaccine development. After the success of MRNA in the Covid 19 vaccine, companies now use the molecule to tackle some of the most difficult pathogens in the world, including not only viruses, but also bacteria such as: E. Coli This causes a recurring urinary tract infection. Companies, including Curevac, Afigen Biologics, Moderna and Pfizer/Biontech, use state-of-the-art MRNA platforms to concentrate on the prevention of these frequently attractive diseases, and they have promising preclinical and clinical results.

A better way to fight around recurring Utis

Curevac based in Tubingen, Germany, and since 2000 a pioneer of mRNA technology, has several mrNA vaccines in her pipeline, which aims at breathing and non-response infectious diseases. They have worked with GSK on respiratory viruses since 2020 and announced a license agreement in July 2024, under which GSK took over the development and manufacture of vaccines for seasonal influenza, bird fluenza and covid-19, as well as a combination crisis/covid-19 vaccine.

Curevacs Non-respiratory infectious disease program aims at recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) caused by uropathy E. Coli (UPEC). The mRNA vaccine aims at the FIMH antigen, an adhesive surface protein that helps the bacteria to colonize the bladder and kidney. UPEC is responsible for 70-90% of recurring UTIs, and the Fimh antigen is highly preserved and stable, said Alexander Zehnder, MD, CEO from CureVac. “It's an ideal setup for a vaccine,” he said. “You have a bacteria that is the main culprit and a goal that is extremely stable.”

In preclinical studies, the Curevac mRNA vaccine achieved better than a protein-based component with regard to the generation of antibodies against FIMH and the stimulation of a T-cell reaction, an essential step towards preventing recurring infections. Antifimh antibodies prevent UPEC bacteria from infecting the enteric wall, Zehnder noticed, but they cannot help to help cells that have already been infected. “The beauty of mRNA is that it does more than that,” he said. “You can not only provide antibodies to prevent the infection, but also stimulate the immune system with the T cells, and the T cells already attack cells.”

Zehnder said that Curevac submitted an application for new medicines (Ind) in the second half of 2025 and the clinical studies of phase I start in early 2026. If it is successful, the vaccine could help reduce the use of antibiotics for these persistent infections. “People with recurring infections could have antibiotics treatments several times a year,” said Zehnder. Avoiding repeated use against antibiotics not only reduces the risk of creating antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but also frees patients from the unpleasant side effects that are often associated with antibiotics.

Acceptance of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea

Afigen-Biologika is based in South Africa, in collaboration with the Danish biotech company Evaxion Evaxion, has preclinical proof-of-concept-proofs for an mRNA Neisseria Gonorrhoeae. Although there are effective antibiotics for the treatment of gonorrhea, antimicrobial resistant trunks rise, which increasingly becomes more dangerous worldwide. The vaccine EVX-B2 is based on antigens that were identified by the artificial intelligence platform of Evaxion, Ai-Immunology ™. A protein-based version of EVX-B2 developed at the University of Massachusetts showed significant immunogenicity and bactericide activity in preclinical tests. Afigen worked together on the adjuvans for this protein base vaccine.

During the Covid 19 pandemic, Afigen began with the production of mRNA vaccines, and in 2021 the company became a turntable of the MRNA vaccine technology transfer program, a global initiative of the World Health Organization and the Patentpool for Medicines in order to build up the production of vaccinations in countries with low and medium-sized incomes. After the pandemic, Afigen turned her attention back to gonorrhea, this time with mRNA in mind. “Covid has proven that mRNA is a suitable platform for a safe and effective vaccine development,” said Petro Terblanche, CEO of Afigen. So far, however, no mRNA vaccine has been approved for clinical use against a bacterial goal. Afigen and Evaxion began working on an MRNA version of the EVX-B2 gonorrhea vaccine.

Preclinical data have shown that the MRNA version of the antigen cuts off comparable to the protein antigen and shows the potential for a robust immune response. “This is an early stage, but incredibly promising,” said Terblanche. “This is a vaccine that is globally relevant.” The next steps will consist of continuing the preclinical development, submitting an ind-application and scaling production for clinical studies. If the mRNA vaccine is effective, it would be a great progress in public health against gonorrhea, a disease that the CDC described as one of the most urgent antibiotic-resistant disease threats in the United States.

Go with the stomach

Moderna began a clinical phase -III study in September 2024 to evaluate the security and effectiveness of your MRNA vaccine against Norovirus, a highly infectious virus that causes gastroenteritis. The experiment will enroll around 25,000 participants, 80% of whom are over 60 years old. “We really focus on this older age group because, at least in adults, the greatest burden of Norovirus disease is in older people,” said Doran Fink, MD, PhD, clinical therapeutic area, which leads to gastrointestinal and bacterial pathogens in Moderna. “They make most hospital stays and deaths from the acute gastroenteritis of Norovirus in adults in the USA”. The attempt is currently concerned for participants in the USA, Great Britain, Canada and Japan and will expand to Australia and Latin America soon.

The advantage of using the MRNA platform for Norovirus is the capacity for fast updates when new variants are created. Studies on natural infection show that people can be infected several times with Norovirus, both because the immune protection over time and because there are so many different genotypes of Norovirus. “If a new genotype becomes predominant, it is possible that the vaccine may have to be updated,” said Fink. “This is one of the advantages of our MRNA platform that we hope to update the ability to quickly update the vaccine composition over time as required.” If the vaccine program is successful, Moderna would work with the public health authorities to coordinate vaccine production with monitoring data, which circulates variants. The tested vaccine is a triple wording against three common Norovirus genotypes. “Our vaccine comprises the GII. 4 genotype and two other additional genotypes that have been most prevalent in the past ten years,” says Fink.

The Norovirus vaccine is based on the Spikevax Covid-19 vaccine from Moderna and uses the same mRNA and lipid nanoparticle technology. Another Norovirus vaccine that was currently in the development of Takeda Pharmaceuticals using virus-like particles instead of mRNA, which was currently in development, a phase II study in infants in July, after they had shown promising results in July. Similarly, the Moderna vaccine would have to demonstrate effectiveness in children and infants in order to meet the requirements for the vaccine license. “There is a great need for vaccines for public health to prevent Norovirus in infants and children, especially in countries with lower and medium -sized incomes, so that the regulatory obligation would not be the only reason for the development of this development,” said Fink.

Combination virus for respiratory diseases

Pfizer and Biontech have published results from a clinical phase III study on their combination Covid-19 and influenza vaccine. The vaccine includes the company's licensed COVID 19 vaccine in combination with an mRNA-based influenza vaccine candidate. The aim is to simplify the immunization processes by reducing the number of injections required for the protection of the airways, which potentially increases the vaccination rates and the results of public health.

The study compared the immunogenicity of the combination vaccine with the current standard of care, licensed Covid-19 and influenza vaccines that were given when visiting the opposite arms. The results showed that the combination vaccine triggered antibody reactions that are comparable to the licensed COVID-19 vaccine, and higher answers to influenza A. However, the combination vaccine candidate did not exceed the licensed vaccine against influenza b, and companies rate the adjustments to improve this immune response. “The obvious weakening of immunogenicity reactions to influenza -b immunogenicity was observed in other influenza vaccines next to mRNA,” said Kit Longley, a spokesman for Pfizer, via e -mail. “The clinical importance of these immunogenicity results is less clear.”

Pfizer also announced data from a phase II study on the triple second generation influenza vaccine, which showed robust immunogenicity against all tribes compared to the standard of care. “The immunogenicity data from our phase II study of the trival MRNA-Standalon-Influenza vaccine give us the trust that we are on the right track to initiate the next generation of investigation mrNA-influza and Covid-19 combination candidates for the combination of COVID-19 combination,” said Longley.