A team of Penn Medicine researchers led by Scott Hensley, PhD, professor of Microbiology, and Nobel Laureate Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, the Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research, have developed an mRNA vaccine for the H5N1 avian flu using techniques similar to those enabling mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines. This highly virulent strain of avian flu has infected millions of birds and, more recently, dairy cattle in several states.
While H5N1 currently poses little risk to humans, the potential for the virus to mutate and become more infectious underscores the importance of early vaccine development. The new vaccine has shown high antibody responses in mice and ferrets, and further testing on cattle, pigs, and chickens is planned. Read more here: