Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2024 Oct 3;187(20):5540-5553.e10.
doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.08.043. Epub 2024 Sep 4.

Comparison of protection against mpox following mRNA or modified vaccinia Ankara vaccination in nonhuman primates

Eric M Mucker  1 , Alec W Freyn  2 , Sandra L Bixler  1 , Deniz Cizmeci  2 , Caroline Atyeo  2 , Patricia L Earl  3 , Harini Natarajan  2 , Genesis Santos  2 , Tiffany R Frey  2 , Rafael H Levin  2 , Anusha Meni  2 , Guha A Arunkumar  2 , Daniel Stadlbauer  2 , Patricia A Jorquera  2 , Hamilton Bennett  2 , Joshua C Johnson  2 , Kath Hardcastle  2 , Jeffrey L Americo  3 , Catherine A Cotter  3 , Jeff W Koehler  1 , Christopher I Davis  1 , Joshua D Shamblin  1 , Kristin Ostrowski  1 , Jo Lynne Raymond  1 , Keersten M Ricks  1 , Andrea Carfi  2 , Wen-Han Yu  2 , Nancy J Sullivan  4 , Bernard Moss  3 , Galit Alter  5 , Jay W Hooper  6
Affiliations
Free article
Comparative Study

Comparison of protection against mpox following mRNA or modified vaccinia Ankara vaccination in nonhuman primates

Eric M Mucker et al. Cell. .
Free article

Abstract

In 2022, mpox virus (MPXV) spread worldwide, causing 99,581 mpox cases in 121 countries. Modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vaccine use reduced disease in at-risk populations but failed to deliver complete protection. Lag in manufacturing and distribution of MVA resulted in additional MPXV spread, with 12,000 reported cases in 2023 and an additional outbreak in Central Africa of clade I virus. These outbreaks highlight the threat of zoonotic spillover by Orthopoxviruses. mRNA-1769, an mRNA-lipid nanoparticle (LNP) vaccine expressing MPXV surface proteins, was tested in a lethal MPXV primate model. Similar to MVA, mRNA-1769 conferred protection against challenge and further mitigated symptoms and disease duration. Antibody profiling revealed a collaborative role between neutralizing and Fc-functional extracellular virion (EV)-specific antibodies in viral restriction and ospinophagocytic and cytotoxic antibody functions in protection against lesions. mRNA-1769 enhanced viral control and disease attenuation compared with MVA, highlighting the potential for mRNA vaccines to mitigate future pandemic threats.

Keywords: MVA; antibody; challenge; correlate; mRNA; monkeypox; mpox; primate; serology; vaccine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests Opinions, interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the US Army. A.W.F., D.C., C.A., H.N., G.S., T.R.F., R.H.L., A.M., G.A.A., D.S., P.A.J., H.B., J.C.J., K.H., A.C., W.-H.Y., and G.A. are employees of Moderna. G.A. is an equity holder in Systems Seromyx and Leyden Labs and has received collaborative funding from Moderna, GSK, Sanofi, Medicago, BioNtech, Clover, and Pfizer in the past year. P.L.E., J.L.A., C.A.C., and B.M. were supported by the Division of Intramural Research, NIAID, NIH.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources