The Access to Advanced Health Institute (AAHI) announced today that it has received an $18 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a temperature stable, single-dose vaccine candidate for the chikungunya virus. The vaccine uses the innovative RNA platform technology to protect against the virus, a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Asia, Africa and Latin America for which no vaccine exists. AAHI’s approach to an RNA vaccine against chikungunya is distinctly different from the RNA vaccines which are currently approved by the FDA to prevent other diseases. Unlike other RNA vaccines, this candidate will generate a live “attenuated” virus that could potentially induce strong and long-lasting immune protection against this mosquito-borne disease. The award from NIH will support development, preclinical testing and human clinical evaluation of a vaccine that meets an increasingly urgent need for a reliable, abundant supply.
