A Jefferson Rabies Virus-based Vaccine Enters First Human Study in 2024

A Rabies virus-based vaccine developed over the last ten years at Jefferson and supported by $30 million contract from the NIH/NIAID was efficient in non-human primates and is entering its first human study in November 2024.

Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University and the University of Maryland Baltimore, in collaboration with the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) and the Geneva Foundation, have developed a promising new vaccine candidate that protects against Lassa fever. The study, published in npj Vaccines on August 9, 2024, demonstrated that the vaccine effectively prevents severe cases of the disease and death in preclinical animal models and paves the way for research in people.