A universal flu vaccine that protects against all known strains of the virus — both seasonal and pandemic — is now undergoing a phase 1 trial at Duke University in Durham, N.C.
The effort is being led by the Duke Human Vaccine Institute to create a more advanced vaccine that "provides longer and broader protection" against the flu.
"During the course of a flu season, the influenza virus drifts, undergoing small, but significant changes that make current vaccines less effective," Emmanuel Walter, MD, chief medical officer and director of the Duke Vaccine and Trials Unit, said in the May 15 news release. "We are hopeful that this vaccine could offer protection across those sorts of change."
The Duke vaccine trial is part of the Collaborative Influenza Vaccine Innovation Centers, a program that has received millions of dollars in funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to modernize flu vaccines. Duke's vaccine trial is part of a contract with the NIAID, according to the press release.
Duke's phase 1 trial vaccine formula includes mRNA technology, like that which was used to develop COVID-19 vaccines. Fifty participants between the ages of 18 and 49 will receive different dosage levels of the trial vaccine and be monitored for a full year.
"The trial's main objective is to evaluate the safety of each dose," the release states. "A secondary goal is to assess the immune response at each level and, finally, the researchers will gauge how long the immune response lasts and whether it's effective over time once the virus has undergone the small drift changes."