Paramyxoviridae and Bunyavirales Vaccines and Antibodies Center (PABVAX)

Emerging and reemerging pathogenic RNA viruses represent continuous infectious disease and pandemic threats to public health. Among the many groups of these types of pathogens are viral zoonoses within the family Paramyxoviridae and order Bunyavirales. The Bunyavirales is composed of several viral families known to contain several high priority human pathogens. Notably, Arenaviridae and Nairoviridae families contain viruses which cause severe emorrhagic diseases in humans worldwide with associated high morbidity and mortality. A host of arenaviruses viruses, including Lassa, Machupo, Lujo, and Chapare viruses and the nairovirus Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus and are also included among the World Health Organization’s (WHO) List of Priority Pathogens. The zoonotic henipaviruses (HNVs) including Nipah virus (NiV) and Hendra virus (HeV), in the Paramyxoviridae family are also on the WHO Priority Pathogens. These HNVs have a uniquely broad host tropism, causing an often fatal respiratory and/or neurological disease, and are significant biothreats to humans and livestock in Southeast Asia and Australia. All these RNA virus threats to global public health are heightened due to the absence of approved vaccines or therapeutics. There is a clear unmet need for countermeasures to address the threat of natural outbreaks, epidemics, or deliberate release. The Paramyxoviridae and Bunyavirales Vaccines and Antibodies Center (PABVAX) is a well-integrated consortium conducting a set of discovery and translational research programs composed of a Data Management Core, 3 Scientific Cores, and 5 Research Projects (RPs). The synergistic activities of Center partners will be focused on: developing, testing, and translating, prototype subunit vaccines employing a novel adjuvanted dissolvable, microneedle patch (MNP) vaccine platform; developing new virus and animal model tools; and developing and testing monoclonal antibody and nanobody prototypes to foster pandemic preparedness. The level of team experience in both vaccines and antibody countermeasure advancements among the RPs is a major strength and advantage of this Center. The PABVAX Center’s overall objective is to elucidate key principles for vaccine and antibody-based countermeasures in developing prototype candidates against a selection of these viruses. In the out years of the effort, the Center will exploit these learned key principles in a “plug and play” approach against related viruses.