CMV Vectored Herpes Simplex Vaccine

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The longterm goal of this project is to utilize cytomegalovirus (CMV) vectors in the development of a therapeutic vaccine against herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2), the causative agent of genital herpes. HSV-2 is widely prevalent in the population causing recurrent genital lesions and significantly increasing the risk for other sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV. Despite this unmet medical need, there is no approved vaccine for HSV-2. While some vaccine approaches have shown promise in preclinical studies, they failed to protect individuals from de novo or recurrent infection in clincal trials. Given the known role of T lymphocytes in limiting HSV-2 reactivation and the associated development of lesions, a successfulHSV-2 vaccine needs to induce and maintain a strong T cell response that effectively identifies and neutralizes infected cells. CMV vectors are uniquely qualified for this task due to their ability to induce lifelong, high frequency effector memory T