BioNTech has finally dosed the first patient with its Herpes Vaccine (BNT163) in a candidate clinical trial. According to the German Vaccine maker, “The vaccine is designed to prevent genital lesions as part of a first-in-human Phase 1 clinical research study.”
The aim of the candidate vaccine is meant to prevent HSV-2, the herpes simplex virus that causes genital herpes, and most possibly the HSV-1, which causes oral herpes which leads to genital herpes.
This vaccine is the first result of a research collaboration that was established in 2018 between the University of Pennsylvania and BioNTech. They’re aimed at developing novel mRNA vaccine candidates for the prevention and treatment of several infectious diseases.
According to data from WHO, the number of people aged between 15-29, that are suffering from HSV-2 infection globally are around 491 million.
For their candidate clinical trial, BioNTech has enrolled 100 people aged 18-55 for the phase 1 trial of the vaccine.
