Vaccine News

Today, Micron Biomedical announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded the company $2 million to continue its work on broadly protecting avian and seasonal flu vaccines.

The company won the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) Patch Forward competition. The $2 million award will advance Micron’s work to co-develop needle-free versions of broadly protecting influenza vaccines with Zipcode Bio, a biotechnology company focusing on next-generation RNA medicines.

“Making all vaccines, including influenza vaccines, more broadly protecting and more accessible has the potential to save lives globally, and we are thrilled to be recognized by the HHS, BARDA, as one of the most important vaccine innovations rethinking how vaccines will be administered,” said Steven Damon, CEO of Micron Biomedical, in a press release on January 14, 2025.

“We are thrilled to continue our collaboration with Zipcode Bio and accelerate efforts to make the dream of needle-free, broadly protecting influenza vaccines a reality.”

Micron’s technology uses a dissolvable microarray “button” applied to the skin. The button painlessly delivers a vaccine or therapeutic directly into the uppermost dermal layers when pushed. The button can be self-administered or administered by a caregiver or parent. 

Micron previously announced that it had received a $7.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for a total of $43 million in support from the organization.

Over the past decade, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Academy of Sciences have written, A future influenza pandemic is inevitable.... are we ready?

From January 2003 to November 2023, the WHO reported 246 cases of human infection with the avian influenza A(H5N1) virus from four WHO Western Pacific Region countries. Of these, 138 were fatal, resulting in a case fatality rate (CFR) of 56%.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Agriculture, mammalian infections with the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus will be a global concern in 2025.

As of early 2025, the U.S. government has invested in developing avian influenza vaccine candidates.

The Walgreens Flu Index® recently highlighted the top 10 areas in the United States with influenza activity.

As of January 4, 2025, the cities were primarily located in the south-central U.S.

1. Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen, Texas,
2. Knoxville, Tenn.,
3. Montgomery-Selma, Ala.
4. New Orleans, La.,
5. Jackson, Miss.,
6. Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas,
7. Huntsville-Decatur (Florence), Ala.,
8. Nashville, Tenn.,
9. Birmingham (Anniston and Tuscaloosa), Ala.
10. El Paso, Texas (Las Cruces).

The Walgreens Flu Index provides state—and market-specific information regarding flu activity. It is compiled using retail prescription data for antiviral medications used to treat influenza at Walgreens's thousands of pharmacies nationwide, including Puerto Rico.

The Flu Index is not intended to illustrate flu activity levels or severity, but it complements the weekly data posted by the U.S. CDC. It is an interactive tool that allows users to search by market or state to see where their geographic area ranks for flu activity in any given week. 

In 2024, over 92 million flu shots were distributed in the U.S. As of January 13, 2025, various vaccine types remain available at most community pharmacies. They are recommended for most children and adults, and booster doses are often suggested for certain people.

Curevo Vaccine today announced positive updated immunogenicity and safety data from its Phase 2 trial of amezosvatein (CRV-101) head-to-head versus Shingrix® in participants 50 years of age and older.

“The Day 421 Phase 2 data continue to support our view that amezosvatein has a comparable effect on the human immune system as Shingrix,” said Dr. Guy De La Rosa, Curevo’s Chief Medical Officer, in a press release on January 12, 2025.

CRV-101 is a non-mRNA adjuvanted subunit vaccine. Similar to Shingrix, amezosvatein uses a subunit protein antigen called glycoprotein ‘E’ (gE). Targeting the gE antigen is proven to elicit a long-term, protective immune response to prevent shingles.

Also, like Shingrix, amezosvatein uses an adjuvant targeting the TLR4 pathway to boost the immune response to the gE antigen.

The SLA-SE adjuvant formulation was developed at the Access to Advanced Health Institute. Amezosvatein was licensed from the Mogam Institute for Biomedical Research, a research institute funded by South Korea’s GC Biopharma.

“Amezosvatein’s non-inferior immunogenicity data and comparable herpes zoster case data, combined with amezosvatein’s improved tolerability versus Shingrix in this Phase 2 trial we reported this time last year, provide us with great confidence and excitement to continue development of this vaccine.”

“This is in a market expected to be worth over $5 billion in 2025,” noted George Simeon, Curevo’s Chief Executive Officer.

Currently, the U.S. CDC recommends two doses of the recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV, Shingrix) to prevent shingles and related complications in adults over> 50. And the CDC recommends two doses of RZV for adults who are or will be immunodeficient or immunosuppressed.

In 2025, Shingrix is offered at various pharmacies.

While Chikungunya and Dengue virus outbreaks reached records in the Region of the Americas in 2024, a little-known virus with similar symptoms has been spreading, causing complications in diagnosis.

Oropouche virus, primarily transmitted through bites from infected midges, has expanded its range over the past year, reaching Central America and the Caribbean.

Research published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases in December 2024 estimates that up to 5 million people in the Americas are at risk of exposure to the virus.

To confuse a diagnosis, Oropouche infections can appear clinically similar to Chikungunya, Dengue, Malaria, and Zika. A reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction test is only administered after a negative dengue result.

Still, once confirmed, no treatment or preventive vaccine for Oropouche is available as of January 2025.

To alert international travelers to this health risk, the U.S. CDC updated its Level 1 - Practice Usual Precautions, Travel Advisory on December 18, 2024. The CDC lists nine countries that have reported Oropouche cases.

And in Brazil, the CDC issued a Level 2 Advisory for Espírito Santo.

In Florida, about 103 international travelers have been diagnosed with this infection.

Symptoms of Oropouche infection include headache, fever, muscle aches, stiff joints, nausea, vomiting, chills, or sensitivity to light. Severe cases may result in neuroinvasive diseases such as meningitis.

Furthermore, the CDC says the Oropouche virus has been found in semen and may spread through sex.

New South West (NSW) Health recently reminded international travelers and Australian residents to protect themselves from mosquito bites during the summer of 2025 following Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) detections.

In this year's first results, JEV was detected in mosquitoes in NSW's Moree area as of January 7, 2025. This area is located northwest of Sydney and west of Brisbane.

JEV was previously detected in mosquitoes in the Griffith area and feral pigs in the Narromine Shire local government area in December 2024.

NSW Health's Executive Director of Health Protection, Dr. Jeremy McAnulty, said in a media release, "Mosquitoes thrive in warm conditions, increasing the risk of mosquito-borne illnesses such as Murray Valley encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis, Ross River, and Barmah Forest viruses in parts of NSW."

“Each year from November to April, NSW Health undertakes surveillance across the state to provide important information about when mosquito-borne disease risk is elevated," Dr McAnulty added.

“These detections indicate the risk for mosquito-borne virus transmission is widespread, particularly in the 55 NSW local government areas at higher risk of JE in the inland regions."

“I encourage anyone planning to spend time outdoors in these higher-risk areas to take steps to protect against mosquito bites."

According to the World Health Organization, JEV is the leading cause of viral encephalitis in many Asian and Western Pacific Ocean countries. Twenty-four countries in the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific Regions have endemic JEV transmission, exposing more than 3 billion people to risks of infection.

The JE vaccine (JESPECT®) will be available in 2025 through local General Practitioners, Aboriginal health services, and pharmacists for people who live or regularly work in these areas. Information on eligibility for a free JE vaccine is available on the NSW Health website.

In the United States, Valneva SE's IXIARO® Japanese encephalitis virus vaccine is commercially offered at travel clinics and pharmacies.

Most health experts agree that preventing vaccine-preventable diseases is key to international travel in 2025.

A new analysis by Harvard Medical School researchers demonstrates that travel clinics and pharmacies have successfully contributed to administering vaccines against pneumococcus and influenza.

This study was published yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Diseases on January 8, 2025, and revealed that 19% of vaccine-eligible travelers either received a pneumococcal vaccine or were referred to another provider to receive it.

And 40% of travelers received the influenza vaccination at their pre-travel visit or were referred to another provider.

However, there were missed opportunities for vaccination.

Over a span of 10 years, 68% of eligible international travelers were not offered the pneumococcal vaccine, and 15% were not offered the flu vaccine, even if their travel destination was in the midst of a respiratory season outbreak.

These deficiencies could be related to the differences between the seasons in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

These researchers' findings suggest that influenza vaccines are less likely to be offered to travelers during the summer months in the Northern Hemisphere, even if they are available and the person is heading to a Southern destination.

Another potential barrier is a lack of insurance coverage for the administration of non-travel vaccines. To resolve this constraint, many pharmaceutical firms offer discount programs.

As of January 9, 2025, various routine and travel vaccines are offered at travel clinics and pharmacies in the United States.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) today announced that the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has reported an increase in respiratory viral infections this season in northern China, including human metapneumovirus (hMPV) infections, seasonal influenza, rhinovirus, and respiratory syncytial virus.

Since December 2024, human metapneumovirus has affected all age groups in China. According to the ECDC, it usually causes mild to moderate respiratory illness, but the infection can sometimes be severe in young children, older adults, and immunocompromised individuals.

As of January 8, 2025, the ECDC 'considers that the current epidemiological situation in China reflects a seasonal rise in respiratory infections caused by common respiratory pathogens and does not pose any specific concern for the EU/EEA (Europe).

According to the WHO, countries including India and the United Kingdom have also reported seasonal rise in cases of hMPV. Based on the current risk assessment, WHO advises against travel or trade restrictions related to current trends in acute respiratory infections.

Currently, there is no vaccine for hMPV, but annual flu shots and RSV vaccines are available at most pharmacies in the U.S.