14 Dec Novel Vaccine Fights MRSA Infections
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Michael Yeaman Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine, Infectious Disease Specialist
Chief, Division of Molecular Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Yeaman: In the U.S. and around the globe, skin and soft tissue infections caused by
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) continue to endanger the
health and lives of patients and otherwise healthy individuals. Treatment is
difficult because MRSA is resistant to many antibiotics, and the infections
can recur, placing family members and other close contacts at risk of
infection.
Infectious disease specialists at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research
Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed) tested a new
investigational vaccine, NDV-3, and found it holds new hope for preventing
or reducing the severity of infections caused by the “superbug” MRSA.
In the study, which was published Dec. 8 in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences USA, the researchers reported that NDV-3, employing the
recombinant protein Als3, can mobilize the immune system to fight off MRSA
skin infections in an experimental model. The researchers found the vaccine
works by enhancing molecular and cellular immune defenses of the skin in
response to MRSA and other S. aureus bacteria in disease models.
This is the first published study to demonstrate the effectiveness of a
cross-kingdom recombinant vaccine against MRSA skin infections. NDV-3 is
unique as it is the first vaccine to demonstrate it can be effective in
protecting against infections caused by both S. aureus and the fungus
Candida albicans. NDV-3 represents a novel approach to vaccine design that
pioneers an approach termed convergent immunity.
Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Yeaman: A vaccine that could prevent or lessen the severity of MRSA infections would be a significant advance in patient care and public health
Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Yeaman: NDV-3 has been licensed by LA BioMed to NovaDigm Therapeutics, Inc. and has already been found to be well-tolerated and capable of producing immune
responses in human clinical trials similar to those observed to be effective
in the present disease model. Further studies in human clinical trials are
being planned to assess the efficacy of NDV-3 in protecting against disease
caused by MRSA and other S. aureus bacteria
Citation:
Mechanisms of NDV-3 vaccine efficacy in MRSA skin versus invasive infection
PNAS 2014 ; published ahead of print December 8, 2014, doi:10.1073/pnas.1415610111
Last Updated on December 14, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD