Development of a Prophylactic Onchocerciasis Vaccine

Humanriver blindnessis caused by a filarial parasite and is a serious neglected tropical disease contributing to blindnessskin diseaseand chronic disability in the developing worldEstimates from the Global Burden of Disease Studyindicate thatmillion cases of onchocerciasisleading tomillion cases of vision impairmentoccur worldwide every yearThe goal of this project is to develop a safe and effective vaccine to protect vulnerable populations in endemic areasThe vaccine will work by generating anti parasite immune responses which can reduce the burden of disease and interrupt the parasitic life cycle by eliminating both adult worms and microfilariaeThusit will contribute to reduction in transmission rates and will prevent recurrent diseaseIn our phaseresearchwe met both objectives byselecting and producing an optimal vaccine compositionanddemonstrating the efficacy of our candidates protecting against diseaseIn phasewe intend to translate our development efforts towards field deployment byproducing cGMP proteintesting its ability to protect animalsdemonstrating the vaccine is safe and effective in animal studiesand moving towards human clinical trials by having a pre IND meeting with the FDA