WHO launches initiative to develop mRNA vaccines against bird flu

The World Health Organization announced Monday that it has launched an initiative to help accelerate the development of a human bird flu vaccine using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology.

The project, which will be led by Argentinian pharmaceutical company Sinergium Biotech, will aim to identify vaccine candidates for manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries, the WHO said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has previously said the risk of bird flu, also known as avian influenza, to the general public is low and there is currently no evidence of human-to-human transmission. Federal health officials have also prepared millions of vials of an available non-mRNA bird flu vaccine as a precautionary measure, just in case it becomes necessary.

mRNA technology is the same type that was used in the development of COVID vaccines. Most vaccines use a weakened or inactive virus to stimulate an immune response, but mRNA vaccines teach the body how to make proteins that can trigger an immune response and fight off an infection.

Researchers can often design mRNA vaccines more quickly than they can produce the live or weakened pathogens needed for a traditional vaccine.

The initiative is part of the WHO's mRNA Technology Transfer Program, which has a goal of building capacity in low- and middle-income countries to produce mRNA vaccines.

Sinergium Biotech has already developed candidates for H5N1 vaccines, according to the WHO. The company is looking to perform proof-of-concept studies, in which researchers decide whether to continue studying the product based on its efficacy.

If the proof-of-concept study is successful, Sinergium said it plans to share the "technology, materials and expertise" with other manufacturing partners so they can develop the vaccine themselves.

"This initiative exemplifies why WHO established the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme -- to foster greater research, development and production in low- and middle-income countries, so that when the next pandemic arrives, the world will be better prepared to mount a more effective and more equitable response," WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

The WHO says that avian influenza viruses are a "significant public health risk" because they spread widely in animals and have the potential to cause a future pandemic. However, the global health agency indicated that its preparedness efforts are an example of being proactive, rather than reactive, by increasing access to vaccines.

In the United States, there have been 13 human cases of bird flu since April of this year, according to an update last week from the CDC. All the human patients either came into contact with sick dairy cows or infected poultry, according to the CDC.

The U.S. government has also awarded Moderna $176 million to develop and test an mRNA vaccine that could be used for bird flu, Reuters reported in early July.