A team led by Maj. Walter Reed, WRAIR’s namesake, confirmed over 100 years ago that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes. Though a yellow fever vaccine exists, there is a major shortage of the approved vaccine (VF-VAX), and there is a need for a new yellow fever vaccine that is quicker and easier to make.
In 2020, EIDB began a Phase 1 clinical dose-ranging study of a new investigational yellow fever vaccine, vYF, developed by Sanofi Pasteur. The vaccine is manufactured through a process that is rapidly scalable, sustainable and transferable without any expected loss in safety or immunogenicity, advantages expected to aid in the management of yellow fever outbreaks. The study will compare the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of three vYF dosages and is taking place at WRAIR’s Clinical Trials Center.