Tetravalent DNA Vaccine Product as a Vaccine Candidate Against Dengue

Abstract

Dengue is the most important arbovirus worldwide and is the virus that causes dengue fever and the more severe dengue hemorrhagic fever. There are four serotypes of dengue with each possessing the ability to cause disease. Developing a preventive vaccine is the most efficient and effective way to prevent these diseases, and because immunity to one serotype does not protect against the other serotypes, a vaccine must provide tetravalent protection. We used DNA immunization as a platform to develop a tetravalent vaccine. In this chapter, we describe the laboratory, regulatory, and clinical methodology for evaluating a candidate tetravalent vaccine in a Phase 1 clinical trial.

Tetravalent dengue DNA vaccine is not immunogenic when delivered by retrograde infusion into salivary glands

“…Traditional methods of vaccination by attenuating the virus or purifying the proteins have not been successful [2] DNA vaccines have long been known to produce good immunogenicity in different animal models [3,4]. A tetravalent DNA vaccine for Dengue virus (TVDV) is under development but has not yet achieved optimal immunogenicity [5]. Alternative administration methods have recently shown promise in boosting the vaccine's immunogenicity, but further increasing immunogenicity would aid in the vaccine's development [6].…”

Dengue Mosaic Vaccines Enhance Cellular Immunity and Expand the Breadth of Neutralizing Antibody Against All Four Serotypes of Dengue Viruses in Mice

“…Efforts to develop safe and effective dengue vaccines are presently at various stages of progress. Six vaccine candidates are currently in clinical trials, including live-attenuated viruses (16, 17), recombinant proteins (18), DNA (19–21), and inactivated viruses (22). Additional candidates, such as virus-vectored and virus like particle (VLP)-based vaccines (23, 24), are under pre-clinical evaluation.…”