July 1, 2020

Controlled Human Infection Models and SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Development

Infecting some volunteers with COVID-19 may provide valuable insights for future rounds of vaccine testing, but would require very strict controls, argues a group of infectious disease experts in the New England Journal of Medicine.Writing in a commentary on behalf of Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines’s Vaccines Working

June 11, 2020

U.S. Army Advances Lead COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate

A U.S. Army laboratory, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), a subordinate command of the Army Futures Command’s Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC), announced the selection of a lead COVID-19 vaccine candidate as well as two backup vaccine candidates that will advance to the next stage of research.“USAMRDC is moving

May 27, 2020

USAMRDC Announces FDA Licensure for Severe Malaria Treatment

The U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted marketing approval for Artesunate for Injection, an initial treatment for severe malaria.The drug was developed under current Good Manufacturing Practices by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the U.S. Army Medical

May 14, 2020

New Evidence Suggests Malaria Cycles Are Innate to the Organism

Scientists from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research joined partners at Duke University, Florida Atlantic University and Montana State University to publish a study in Science providing clear evidence that malaria’s characteristic cycle of fever and chills is a result of the parasite’s own influence—not factors from the host.  What regulated

May 8, 2020

Minimal SARS-CoV-2 Diversity Suggests a Global Vaccine is Feasible

NOTE: This press release was updated on August 31 to reflect the publication of the manuscript in a peer review journal.Genetic analysis of sequences from more than 27,000 individuals infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 reveals that the virus has mutated minimally since December 2019, suggesting one vaccine would be sufficient to

May 1, 2020

Understanding the Initial Immune Response after Dengue Virus Infection

A study led by scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research sheds new light on the body’s initial response to dengue virus (DENV) infection, describing the molecular diversity and specificity of the antibody response.  These results, published in EBioMedicine, a journal published by The Lancet, identify a heretofore unappreciated role for DENV-reactive IgA antibodies. 

May 1, 2020

Understanding the Initial Immune Response after Dengue Virus Infection

A study led by scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research sheds new light on the body’s initial response to dengue virus (DENV) infection, describing the molecular diversity and specificity of the antibody response.  These results, published in EBioMedicine, a journal published by The Lancet, identify a heretofore unappreciated role

April 30, 2020

Army-developed Zika Vaccine Induces Potent Zika and Dengue Cross-neutralizing Antibodies

A new study led by scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research has shown for the first time that a single dose of an experimental Zika vaccine in a dengue-experienced individual can boost pre-existing flavivirus immunity and elicit protective cross-neutralizing antibody responses against both Zika and dengue viruses. Findings were

April 30, 2020

MERS-CoV Vaccine Is Safe and Induces Strong Immunity in Army-led First-in-human Trial

A Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus vaccine candidate was shown to be safe, well-tolerated, and induced a robust immune response in a Phase 1 first-in-human clinical trial. Initial findings from the trial were published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.The study, conducted at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Clinical Trials

Jan. 31, 2020

An Old Plant Virus Inspires the Design of a Modern Vaccine to Fight against Malaria

Scientists from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research have demonstrated that a novel, second-generation malaria vaccine candidate based on the tobacco mosaic virus may offer protection against Plasmodium falciparum malaria in the upcoming issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Malaria, infecting approximately 228