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Poster Title:

VZV mRNA vaccine with Cap5 (ENE) showed stronger immune response in mice

Herpes zoster (HZ), commonly known as shingles, occurs when the latent varicella-zoster virus (VZV), which causes chickenpox in childhood, reactivates from its latent state. Over 90% of adults carry this virus, putting them at risk for reactivation. Shingrix®, a recombinant subunit vaccine, has shown an overall vaccine efficacy of 97.2% among individuals aged 50 and above. With the success of mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, there’s keen interest in developing an mRNA-based shingles vaccine as this approach offers notable benefits, including a shorter design and testing timeline, as well as easier manufacturing processes.

Areterna (Synthgene) worked with a collaborator on a VZV vaccine program in which we designed the mRNA vaccine, manufactured the mRNA, packaged it into LNP and then injected it into mice to test immune response.

Based on the data, Cap5 (ENE) from Areterna (Synthgene) outperformed benchmark m7GpppAmG. Cap5(ENE) provides excellent antigenicity against VZV, inducing not only stronger gE-specific IgG antibody responses but also higher levels of VZV–specific IFNγ compared with other vaccine strategies in mice.

Learn more about our CAP5 (ENE) products >>