EDCTP and CEPI funding moves IAVI’s Lassa fever vaccine candidate into advanced clinical development

A scanning electron micrograph of Lassa virus budding off a Vero cell. Image credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH.

NEW YORK, THE HAGUE, AND OSLO – JUNE 15, 2021 – IAVI has received an award of €22.8 million from the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to conduct a Phase IIb clinical trial of a novel vaccine candidate to prevent Lassa fever disease. An acute viral illness endemic to many parts of West Africa, Lassa fever causes significant annual outbreaks of disease. There are an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 cases and 5,000 related deaths each year. Despite this disease burden, which is believed to be significantly underestimated, no vaccine for Lassa fever is currently available.

The joint award supports an international collaboration, called Lassa Fever Vaccine Efficacy and Prevention for West Africa (LEAP4WA), to conduct a Phase IIb clinical trial of IAVI’s Lassa fever vaccine candidate among adults and children in Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. Collaborators in LEAP4WA represent institutions in Africa, Europe, and North America and together will strengthen capacity of investigational sites in countries where Lassa fever outbreaks and disease occur frequently. LEAP4WA builds on an existing partnership with CEPI that supports IAVI and a global consortium of partners to conduct Phase I and II clinical trials of IAVI’s Lassa fever vaccine candidate.

Read the full press release here.