About "Vaccine Research and Development"

 

　Profile #42: Dr. SAWA Hirofumi, Professor

　Division of Biological Response Analysis, 

　Institute for Vaccine Research and Development (IVReD)

 

　【Research Topics】

　・Vaccine Research and Development from Japan

　

 

 

 

  ～Research and Development of Japanese Vaccines～ 

 

　The Institute for Vaccine Research and Development (IVReD), Hokkaido University (HU) was established in October 2022 as a synergy center under the Program, entitled, “Japan Initiative for World-leading Vaccine Research and Development Centers” by Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED).

　Among the activities performed by members of the IVReD, Professor Yoshihiro Sakoda and his research group at the Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, isolated a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus strain (HPAIV) (H5N1 subtype) in 2022 for the first time in Japan from a dead red fox (Virology, 2023). This HPAIV strain was sent to Dr. Hideki Hasegawa, who is the Director of the Center for Influenza and Respiratory Virus Research at the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), representative of WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in Japan, and an IVReD visiting professor. The genome, pathogenicity, and antigenicity of the HPAIV strain (Ezo Red Fox strain) were examined at the Center for Influenza and Respiratory Virus Research, NIID, and the vaccine strain (NIID-002) was synthesized from the parental Ezo Red Fox strain. In February 2024, the NIID-002 strain was approved as candidate vaccine virus (CVV) for H5N1 at the WHO Vaccine Composition Meeting (VCM). In addition, the NIID-002 was selected as Influenza pre-pandemic vaccine strain by the Health Sciences Council of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and stockpiling production of the NIID-002 is currently underway by pharmaceutical companies in Japan.

 

　　　

Ezo Red Fox　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  Stored in the Hokkaido University Influenza Library

 

A/Ezo red fox/Hokkaido/1/2022 was approved as “Available” strain at the WHO VCM (2024.2)

 

Prof. SAWA Hirofumi performs cell culture experiments