Annandale, VA; September 27, 2022
mRNA Vaccines Have Changed the Way We Fight Infectious Diseases
The leaders and researchers at the Clinical Alliance for Research and Education-Infectious Diseases (CARE-ID) are pleased to announce their continuing efforts in the vaccine development area. Messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) biotechnology, used to develop several COVID-19 vaccines, is beginning to open the way for rapid development of other important vaccines. CARE-ID will again be working with one its most prominent partners, Pfizer, by participating in the clinical study for its modRNA-based influenza (Flu) vaccine [modified RNA]. The primary objective of the study is to determine if the vaccine candidate is safe and helps the body produce antibodies that fight off the flu virus.
“Much of our attention over the past 2 years has focused on the COVID-19 virus. Now that most of our communities around the United States have been able to manage through the unprecedented nature of the COVID threat, we must now return to fighting more common viral threats like flu,” said Donald Poretz, MD, FACP, FIDSA, principal study investigator. “The supporting science and the real-world results of mRNA-based vaccines suggest this approach can be highly effective at activating an individual’s immune system. This could be an important breakthrough since an mRNA flu vaccine wouldn’t contain weakened or dead flu virus permitting more rapid development and higher volume production of flu vaccines.”