Vaccines

The FDA has authorized new mRNA booster shots targeting the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2. The authorization marks the first updated COVID-19 vaccines to be made available in the US since the original vaccines became available in late 2020.

Researchers have created a new mRNA vaccine for cancer that’s designed to carry its cargo to the lymph nodes rather than the liver. Tests in mice showed significant inhibition of the tumors, with complete remission in a decent percentage of cases.

Regulators in the UK have approved Moderna’s new Omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccine for an upcoming nation-wide autumn booster program. The approval makes the UK the first region in the world to move forward with an improved variant-targeting vaccine.

A polio vaccine booster program has been announced in the UK targeting all London children under the age of 10. The program comes after more detections of poliovirus in London’s wastewater indicate the virus is spreading undetected through the city.

A new Lyme disease vaccine is about to enter its final phase of human trialling. If all goes well it could be available by 2025, making it the first vaccine for Lyme disease to reach the market in nearly a quarter of a century.

Most vaccines need to be refrigerated, so it's difficult and expensive to get them to remote areas where they’re often needed most. A new method for encapsulating vaccines in hydrogels lets them be transported and stored at much higher temperatures.

Promising results from a Phase 1 human trial testing a novel monoclonal antibody treatment designed to prevent malaria infection reveal almost every volunteer resisted infection after being deliberately exposed to malaria.

Following recent reports of the first polio case in the US in almost a decade, the CDC reported the virus has been detected in wastewater samples as far back as June in Rockland County, a region north of New York City known for low vaccination rates.

A new single-shot rabies vaccine is showing promising results following a Phase 1 human clinical trial. Further clinical trials are now underway in the hopes the vaccine could help cut down the thousands of deaths every year from this viral disease.

The World Health Organization has declared the monkeypox outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The outbreak has now spread to 75 countries with more than 16,000 cases officially recorded, 72 of which have been seen in children.

Researchers at MIT have developed microparticles that can release doses of drugs at specific times over days, weeks or months. The platform could be useful for creating what the team calls “self-boosting vaccines.”

After months of delays the FDA has finally issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine. Once doses are available this will be the first protein-based COVID vaccine authorized in the United States.