Live attenuated chimeric yellow fever dengue type 2 (ChimeriVax-DEN2) vaccine: Phase I clinical trial for safety and immunogenicity: effect of yellow fever pre-immunity in induction of cross neutralizing antibody responses to all 4 dengue serotypes.

A randomized double-blind Phase I Trial was conducted to evaluate safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of a yellow fever (YF)-dengue 2 (DEN2) chimera (ChimeriVax-DEN2) in comparison to that of YF vaccine (YF-VAX). Forty-two healthy YF naïve adults randomly received a single dose of either ChimeriVax-DEN2 (high dose, 5 log plaque forming units [PFU] or low dose, 3 log PFU) or YF-VAX by the subcutaneous route (SC). To determine the effect of YF preimmunity on the ChimeriVax-DEN2 vaccine, 14 subjects previously vaccinated against YF received a high dose of ChimeriVax-DEN2 as an open-label vaccine. Most adverse events were similar to YF-VAX and of mild to moderate intensity, with no serious side-effects. One hundred percent and 92.3% of YF naïve subjects inoculated with 5.0 and 3.0 log10 PFU of ChimeriVax-DEN2, respectively, seroconverted to wt DEN2 (strain 16681); 92% of subjects inoculated with YF-VAX seroconverted to YF 17D virus but none of YF naïve subjects inoculated with ChimeriVax-DEN2 seroconverted to YF 17D virus. Low seroconversion rates to heterologous DEN serotypes 1, 3 and 4 were observed in YF naïve subjects inoculated with either ChimeriVax-DEN2 or YF-VAX. In contrast, 100% of YF immune subjects inoculated with ChimeriVax-DEN2 seroconverted to all 4 DEN serotypes. Surprisingly, levels of neutralizing antibodies to DEN 1, 2 and 3 viruses in YF immune subjects persisted after 1 year. These data demonstrated that (1) the safety and immunogenicity profile of the ChimeriVax-DEN2 vaccine is consistent with that of YF-VAX, and (2) preimmunity to YF virus does not interfere with ChimeriVax-DEN2 immunization, but induces a long lasting and cross neutralizing antibody response to all 4 DEN serotypes. The latter observation can have practical implications toward development of a dengue vaccine.

A live, attenuated recombinant West Nile virus vaccine.

West Nile (WN) virus is an important cause of febrile exanthem and encephalitis. Since it invaded the U.S. in 1999, >19,000 human cases have been reported. The threat of continued epidemics has spurred efforts to develop vaccines. ChimeriVax-WN02 is a live, attenuated recombinant vaccine constructed from an infectious clone of yellow fever (YF) 17D virus in which the premembrane and envelope genes of 17D have been replaced by the corresponding genes of WN virus. Preclinical tests in monkeys defined sites of vaccine virus replication in vivo. ChimeriVax-WN02 and YF 17D had similar biodistribution but different multiplication kinetics. Prominent sites of replication were skin and lymphoid tissues, generally sparing vital organs. Viruses were cleared from blood by day 7 and from tissues around day 14. In a clinical study, healthy adults were inoculated with 5.0 log(10) plaque-forming units (PFU) (n = 30) or 3.0 log10 PFU (n = 15) of ChimeriVax-WN02, commercial YF vaccine (YF-VAX, n = 5), or placebo (n = 30). The incidence of adverse events in subjects receiving the vaccine was similar to that in the placebo group. Transient viremia was detected in 42 of 45 (93%) of ChimeriVax-WN02 subjects, and four of five (80%) of YF-VAX subjects. All subjects developed neutralizing antibodies to WN or YF, respectively, and the majority developed specific T cell responses. ChimeriVax-WN02 rapidly elicits strong immune responses after a single dose, and is a promising candidate warranting further evaluation for prevention of WN disease.

Replication of chimeric yellow fever virus-dengue serotype 1-4 virus vaccine strains in dendritic and hepatic cells.

ChimeriVax-dengue (DEN) viruses are live attenuated vaccine candidates. They are constructed by replacing the premembrane (prM) and envelope (E) genes of the yellow fever (YF) 17D virus vaccine with the corresponding genes from wild-type DEN viruses (serotypes 1-4) isolated from humans. In this study, the growth kinetics of ChimeriVax-DEN1-4 and parent viruses (wild-type DEN-1-4 and YF 17D) were assessed in human myeloid dendritic cells (DCs) and in three hepatic cell lines (HepG2, Huh7, and THLE-3). In DC, ChimeriVax-DEN-1-4 showed similar growth kinetics to their parent viruses, wild-type DEN virus (propagated in Vero cells), or YF 17D virus (peak titers ~3-4.5 log(10) plaque-forming units (PFU)/mL at 48-72 hours post-infection). Parent wild-type DEN-1-4 viruses derived from C6/36 mosquito cells did not show any growth at a multiplicity of infection of 0.1 in DCs, except for DEN-2 virus, which grew to a modest titer of 2.5 log(10) PFU/mL at 48 hours post-infection. ChimeriVax-DEN1-4 grew to significantly lower titers (2-5 log(10) PFU/mL) than YF 17D virus in hepatic cell lines THLE-3 and HepG2, but not in Huh7 cells. These experiments suggest that ChimeriVax-DEN1-4 viruses replicate similarly to YF-VAX in DCs, but at a lower level than YF 17D virus in hepatic cell lines. The lack of growth of chimeric viruses in human hepatic cells suggests that these viruses may be less hepatotropic than YF 17D virus vaccine in humans.