Cancer Vaccine Breaking News

CARsgen Therapeutics Holdings Limited today announced a collaboration agreement with Moderna Inc. to investigate CARsgen's investigational Claudin18.2 CAR T-cell product candidate (CT041) in combination with Moderna's investigational Claudin18.2 mRNA cancer vaccine.

CT041 (satricabtagene autoleucel) is CARsgen's autologous CAR T-cell product being investigated for potentially treating gastric, pancreatic, and other specified digestive system cancers.

It is currently in multiple ongoing clinical studies in China and North America.

"CT041 is the most advanced solid tumor CAR-T in development (pivotal phase II) and continues to show promise in treating gastric and pancreatic cancers. In our quest to make cancer curable, we are continuously exploring multiple modalities to eradicate tumors. Attacking tumors with CAR T-cell therapy in combination with a cancer vaccine could potentially provide greater clinical benefit to patients." said Dr. Zonghai Li, Founder, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Scientific Officer of CARsgen Therapeutics Holdings Limited, in a press release on August 21, 2023.

Dr. Li added, "Moderna has clearly established itself as a scientific and commercial leader in mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics, and we are pleased to partner with Moderna to explore a potential synergism between our innovative therapies."

Moderna is developing an investigational off-the-shelf mRNA cancer vaccine that encodes for the Claudin18.2 protein, a tumor-associated antigen.

The collaboration contemplates conducting preclinical studies and a phase I clinical trial to evaluate CT041 in combination with Moderna's Claudin18.2 mRNA cancer vaccine.

"We are pleased to partner with CARsgen to explore the potential synergy of CAR-T with an investigational mRNA cancer vaccine that encodes for the Claudin18.2 protein. Claudin18.2 is a promising therapeutic target to potentially treat multiple cancer types with high unmet medical need. We continue to deliver on the promise of mRNA science to create a new generation of transformative medicines in oncology," added Dr. Lin Guey, Chief Scientific Officer of External Research Ventures, Moderna.

CARsgen is a biopharmaceutical company with operations in China, and the U.S. focused on innovative CAR T-cell therapies for treating hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently announced that it was expanding TSA PreCheck® with Telos Corporation at ten airports in the U.S.

Telos began enrolling its first applicants during trial periods in Annapolis, Md., Chantilly, Va., Ashburn, Va., and Las Vegas. 

Since TSA first launched the TSA PreCheck application program for low-risk travelers in December 2013, active membership in the program has grown to more than 15 million passengers.

About 99% of TSA PreCheck® passengers wait less than 10 minutes at 200 airports.

“TSA PreCheck is a trusted traveler program that improves overall aviation security and provides time and convenience benefits to its members,” said TSA Administrator David Pekoske in a press release on August 15, 2023.

“This expansion of enrollment providers will increase the network of locations where applicants may go to complete their TSA PreCheck membership.”

Moving forward, TSA PreCheck members may renew their memberships online with Telos or IDEMIA (TSA PreCheck’s original enrollment provider), regardless of who they enrolled with initially.

As of August 20, 2023, TSA reported airport screening activity had regained volumes last seen in 2019.

Gavi today reported the Republic of Kenya is innovating to help every eligible child get four malaria vaccine doses in 2023.

As of August 18, 2023, about 96.5% of eligible children in Vihiga County in Kenya have received at least one RTS,S vaccine dose.

However, only 30% of eligible children in Vihiga are yet to complete the four-dose regimen that maximizes the WHO-approved malaria vaccine's effectiveness.

Part of the so-called "Lake-endemic region" in Kenya, a particularly mosquito-plagued set of districts abutting Lake Victoria, Vihiga has been offering malaria vaccinations since 2019.

The positive impact of malaria vaccination is already being measured.

More than a million Gavi-supported RTS,S (Mosquirix™) vaccine doses have been administered to some 400,000 children across the Lake-endemic counties, and Dr Abdourahmane Diallo, WHO Kenya Representative, confirms that those jabs, in concert with other malaria-control measures, have led to a demonstrable decline in case" .

The U.S. CDC Kenya"s Amy Herman-Roloff quantifies that decline at 50%.

The precise burden of malaria in sub-Saharan Africa has remained elusive, wrote researchers in an article published by the journal BMC Medicine.

Infection with Plasmodium falciparum is a frequent event for individuals living in stable transmission areas in Afric. Not all new infections cause illness in partdue tof acquired immunity, says the CDC.

In Africa, two malaria vaccines have been in use during 2023.

In addition to malaria, the CDC included Kenya in a recent polio outbreak travel advisory. When visiting polio outbreak areas, the CDC recommends travelers ensure they have been fully immunized. 

The U.S. CDC published a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) today that concluded all adults at risk for mpox should receive Bavarian Nordic JYNNEOS® (MVA-BN) vaccine, irrespective of childhood smallpox vaccination status.

Immunologic studies have demonstrated some long-term immunologic memory from childhood smallpox vaccination that is cross-protective against mpox. Still, such immunity might have waned by May 2022, when the global outbreak began.

On August 18, 2023, the MMWR disclosed although persons aged >50 years likely received a childhood smallpox vaccination, they might have more comorbidities and a higher risk for severe mpox than those aged ≤50. 

This study found among 29,984 adults with mpox, those aged >50 years had higher prevalences of immunocompromising conditions and HIV and lower prevalence of symptoms than younger people.

Among 1,020 adults aged >50 with vaccination data, prevalences of pruritus, constitutional symptoms, and hospitalization were lower among those who received the JYNNEOS vaccine than those who had not.

This finding underscores the importance that persons at risk for mpox, particularly adults aged >50 years, receive the recommended JYNNEOS vaccination. JYNNEOS vaccination is recommended for all adults at risk for mpox irrespective of receipt of childhood smallpox vaccination, wrote these researchers.

The JYNNEOS vaccination services remain available in most health clinics and pharmacies in U.S. cities, London, and in various other locations.

It's unknown how long JYNNEOS protection last or if protection might decrease over time, says the CDC. 

On August 3, 2023, the U.S. government ordered an additional $120 million worth of JYNNEOS vaccines.

According to reporting by Roll Call's Ariel Cohen, the U.S. administration announced in In March 2022 to keep providing free COVID-19 vaccines to every member of the public, it put the onus on insurers to negotiate the price of the vaccines.

On August 18, 2023, Cohen wrote, 'To prepare for insurers taking on price negotiation and to make sure the uninsured and underinsured still had access, the Biden administration announced in April of this year that it was setting up a partnership with pharmacies to deliver shots to the uninsured and underinsured at no up-front cost. 

The so-called "bridge access program" would be a $1.1 billion public-private partnership between the U.S. CDC and pharmacies. 

But months later, the government hasn't been able to finalize partnerships with any pharmacies.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, pharmacies administered a significant percentage of all vaccinations.

The Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID-19 Vaccination is one part of the U.S. federal government's strategy to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines for the American public.

As of July 21, 2023, more than 305 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered and reported by Federal Retail Pharmacy Program participants in the U.S. This includes 8 million doses administered onsite to long-term care facilities in the early days of the COVID-19 vaccination program.

The CDC said it planned to negotiate contracts with CVS, Walgreens, and eTrueNorth to provide pharmacy-based vaccination services to uninsured adults in low-access areas and areas of low vaccination coverage.

But the companies are still in contract negotiations with the government, and it's unclear when contract negotiations will be finalized.

"All of these are still in contract negotiation, so it's really difficult to see what the implementation of this program's going to look like in pharmacy," said Edward Salaguinto, a pharmaceutical constant to the California Department of Public Health.

The CDC is now targeting mid-October 2023 to get the pharmacy program up and running, according to multiple individuals working on the program — which could be about a month after the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines are expected to become available.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) today announced thirty-five laboratory experts gathered this week in the Dominican Republic to discuss increasing the use of tools to detect and monitor mosquito-borne diseases in the Americas. 

The PAHO confirmed that from January until the end of July 2023, 27,000 Zika cases have been reported across the Americas.

The most significant Zika outbreaks were reported in Brazil, Bolivia, Belize, and Paraguay.

The U.S. CDC says because the mosquitoes that spread Zika are found throughout Puerto Rico, people living on the island are at risk for infection. In addition, the Puerto Rico Department of Health says Zika will continue to infect people in 2023. 

In 2022, there were about 40,000 Zika cases in the Americas.

"At least nine arboviruses with public health impact - such as dengue, zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever - are circulating in Latin America and the Caribbean, so strengthening and expanding laboratory detection and surveillance capacities are key to ensuring a timely response to outbreaks and epidemics," said Sylvain Aldighieri, Deputy Director of PAHO's Department of Health Emergencies, in a press release on August 16, 2023.

As of August 2023, the U.S. FDA has not approved a Zika vaccine.

The U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) today reported positive news regarding the 2023-2024 flu season in the United Kingdom.

As of August 17, 2023, the National Influenza reported for week #32 confirmed from most indicators that influenza activity remained low and stable over the past week.

In week #32 of 2023, influenza positivity rates remained low and stable at 0.5%.

Through primary care surveillance, the influenza-like-illness consultations indicator remained stable and was within the baseline activity level range.

Furthermore, no influenza-confirmed outbreaks were reported in England, and no influenza ICU admissions in week #32.

And emergency department attendance for influenza-like illness remained stable throughout the U.K.

For additional information regarding data, refer to Sources of surveillance data for influenza and other respiratory viruses.

When visiting influenza outbreak areas in 2023, the U.S. CDC says travelers should get vaccinated at least two weeks before departure because it takes times for vaccine immunity to develop after vaccination. Various flu shots are offered at clinics and pharmacies in the U.S.