Griffith Uni strep A vaccine candidate has big win

Queensland researchers reach critical stage in world-first human trials to develop vaccine to prevent strep A that can kill by stealth.

Brisbane strep A victim Nicole Williams, 2

Queensland researchers’ bid to develop a vaccine to prevent strep A has moved to a critical stage in world-first human trials, with volunteers to be given the jab followed by a dose of the killer bacteria.

There is currently no preventive treatment for group A streptococcus, which in some cases can kill by stealth — it starts as a simple sore throat.

The bug has taken hold in Queensland, and data shows there was a 30 per cent increase in cases last year with nine deaths.

Two-year-old Brisbane girl Nicole Williams lost her life to strep A and sepsis this year.

Griffith University’s Institute for Glycomics scientists, who have been working for more than a decade on the jab, have collaborated with researchers at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

The project is an international alliance with the human trials being held in Canada.

In preclinical research the vaccine has been shown to protect against all strains of strep A that have been tested. Now the efficacy will be tested in humans.

Lead researcher Professor Michael Good and Associate Professor Manisha Pandey, both from the Institute for Glycomics, discovered strep A’s Achilles heel to help prevent not only strep A infection but also rheumatic heart disease.

Strep A is responsible for rheumatic heart disease and many cases of deadly invasive disease and toxic shock.

“The human clinical trial, which started in November, is currently underway in Canada at the University of Alberta where volunteers are receiving the vaccine to test for safety and immunogenicity,” Professor Good said.

“The vaccine, developed by Griffith University, is designed around key immune determinants, defined by the research team, which represent the organism’s Achilles heel,” he said.

The groundbreaking research has been boosted by a $5 million philanthropic donation from the International Leducq Foundation.

In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people suffer the highest rate of rheumatic heart disease in the world.

It is estimated that around 500,000 people die globally each year as a result of strep A infection.

Institute for Glycomics director Professor Mark von Itzstein said he was thrilled the Leducq Foundation had identified the institute’s vaccine candidate as an exciting opportunity.

“This significant financial support from the Leducq Foundation provides our researchers the capacity to progress the Institute’s most advanced vaccine candidate in human clinical trials,” Professor von Itzstein said.