This first-in-human (FIH) phase 1 study is designed to evaluate in contained conditions the safety, immunogenicity, shedding, and genetic stability of two novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) vaccine candidates in IPV-primed adults before testing in a larger adult and adolescent (\> 15 y of age) population, and then in young children and infants.
Two nOPV2 vaccine candidates have been developed as attenuated serotype 2 polioviruses derived from a modified Sabin 2 infectious complementary deoxyribonucleic acid (cDNA) clone. nOPV2 Candidate 1 (S2/cre5/S15domV/rec1/hifi3) and nOPV2 Candidate 2 (S2/S15domV/CpG40) were generated by modifying the Sabin-2 ribonucleic acid (RNA) sequence to improve phenotypic stability and make the strains less prone to reversion to virulence. Due to the withdrawal of Sabin monovalent oral polio vaccine type 2 (mOPV2) and prohibition of its use from April 2016 onwards, well before the availability of nOPV2 for clinical testing, Phase 4 trials have been conducted with Sabin mOPV2 to provide control data on safety, immunogenicity, against which data for nOPV2 in subsequent Phase I and II studies will be evaluated and compared. The Phase 4 trials of Sabin mOPV2 were designed to parallel the expected design of the Phase 1 and 2 nOPV2 studies with respect to overall design, inclusion of similar study cohorts. As for these reasons head to head comparison of nOPV2 and mOPV2 is not possible, the overall clinical development plan with the Phase I and II studies was designed taking into consideration the unique situation of OPV2 cessation in April 2016, and the global public health need of a vaccine with lower risk of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP) and vaccine-derived type-2 poliovirus (cVDPV2) (VDPV2) for outbreak response in the post-cessation era. This first-in-human phase 1 study is designed to evaluate in contained conditions the safety, immunogenicity, shedding and genetic stability of both nOPV2 vaccine candidates in IPV-primed adults before testing in a larger adult and adolescent (\> 15 y of age) population, and then in young children and infants. This Phase 1 study will include 30 IPV-only vaccinated adults to be vaccinated with the study vaccines (15 subjects per candidate vaccine) and followed in contained conditions (28 days) to obtain safety, immunogenicity, shedding and genetic stability data relevant to the decision to advance to future studies with testing in un-contained conditions. Participants were isolated in a purpose-built containment facility named Poliopolis at the University of Antwerp Hospital (Antwerp, Belgium), to minimize the risk of environmental release of the novel OPV2 candidates. Volunteers were enrolled sequentially in two groups, with each group receiving one of the two vaccine candidates, to avoid cross-contamination, after which they were confined to Poliopolis for 28 days, with further monitoring until end of shedding. A final safety follow-up call (for those no longer shedding) or visit (for those still shedding) was made 42 days after vaccine administration.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
TRIPLE
Enrollment
30
Live-attenuated serotype-2 poliovirus derived from a modified Sabin type-2 infectious cDNA clone and propagated in Vero cells; candidate 1 (S2/cre5/S15domV/rec1/hifi3). Modifications included the following: * Changes to the viral nucleotide sequence in part of the 5'-untranslated region to improve the genetic stability of this major attenuating determinant of Sabin type-2 to avoid reversion by single nucleotide changes. * Two modifications in the polymerase 3D to further improve stability of the attenuation and reduce frequency of recombination events * Relocation of a key replication element from the 2C coding region to the 5'-untranslated region, to inhibit recombination.
Live-attenuated serotype-2 poliovirus derived from a modified Sabin type-2 infectious cDNA clone and propagated in Vero cells; candidate 2 (S2/S15domV/CpG40). Modifications included the following: * Changes to the viral nucleotide sequence in part of the 5'-untranslated region to improve the genetic stability of this major attenuating determinant of Sabin type-2 to avoid reversion by single nucleotide changes. * silent non-coding modifications engineered within the capsid (VP1-4) designed to reduce replicative fitness and, potentially, to improve stability of the attenuated phenotype while also reducing transmission.
university of Antwerp - centre for the evaluation of vaccination
Wilrijk, Antwerp, Belgium
Number of Participants With Serious Adverse Events and Severe Adverse Events Throughout the Study
Serious adverse events are medical events that resulted in death, were life-threatening, required admission to hospital, or resulted in notable incapacity of the individual. Adverse events were also graded from mild to severe; Severe adverse events are medical events that prevent normal everyday activities or fever \> 39°C; this category does not include serious adverse events. Serious adverse events and severe adverse events include both solicited and unsolicited events. Solicited events comprised signs and symptoms that were reported by the participant using a predefined checklist in a diary card, or a fever, as determined by the participant's measurement of their body temperature, for up to 7 days after vaccination. Unsolicited events comprised other signs and symptoms recorded through the end of the study. Adverse events were assessed by the investigator for causality as unrelated, unlikely, possibly, or probably related to the vaccination.
Time frame: From Day 0 up to 42 days
Percentage of Participants With Viral Shedding
Participants provided stool samples for assessment of viral shedding, defined as the presence of type 2-specific poliovirus ribonucleic acid (RNA) in stools. Samples were analyzed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Atlanta, GA, USA) for the presence of type-2 poliovirus genome using a Sabin multiplex real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay of total nucleic acid extracted from stool suspensions (50% weight to volume in cell culture medium).
Time frame: Days 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 21, and 28
Cell Culture Infective Dose of Shed Virus in Virus-positive Stool Samples
In stool samples that were positive for type-2 poliovirus detected by RT-PCR, infectious virus was measured as 50% cell culture infective dose (CCID₅₀) per gram of stool by use of a modification of the World Health Organization (WHO) cell sensitivity assay.
Time frame: Days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 21, and 28
Time to Shedding Cessation
The time to cessation of shedding was defined as the time interval between administration of vaccine and the date of the first sample negative for type 2 poliovirus shedding (assessed by RT-PCR) after which the following two consecutive samples were also negative. Time to cessation of viral shedding was assessed using Kaplan-Meier methods; participants were right-censored if they had not met this endpoint with the last stool sample collected.
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Time frame: Stool samples were collected from the day of vaccination to Day 28 or until shedding cessation; up to 89 days (novel OPV2 candidate 1) and 48 days (novel OPV candidate 2).
Shedding Index
A combined index of the prevalence, duration, and quantity of viral shedding in all participants. The viral shedding index was calculated for each participant as the mean of log₁₀(CCID₅₀/g) of samples collected 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after vaccine administration, with the lower limit of quantitation (2.75 log₁₀) as an observed value, and all titers in stool samples with negative shedding results (real-time RT-PCR-negative values) contributing 0 to the mean.
Time frame: Days 7, 14, 21, and 28
Number of Participants With Solicited Adverse Events
Adverse events were solicited from the participants by the medical team during the 7 days after vaccination. Solicited events comprised signs and symptoms that were reported with a predefined checklist in a diary card, including headache, fatigue, myalgia, arthralgia, paresthesia, anesthesia, paralysis, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain, or fever defined as a temperature of 37.5°C or higher. Adverse events were graded as mild (easily tolerated), moderate (sufficiently discomforting to interfere with normal everyday activities), or severe (preventing normal everyday activities, or temperatures higher than 39.0°C). Adverse events were assessed by the investigator for causality as unrelated, unlikely, possibly, or probably related to the vaccination.
Time frame: Day 0 to Day 7
Number of Participants With Unsolicited Adverse Events
Unsolicited events comprised other signs and symptoms that participants reported through the end of the study. Each unsolicited AE was rated on a 3-point scale of increasing intensity: * Grade 1: Mild; an AE that was easily tolerated by the subject, causing minimal discomfort and not interfering with everyday activities. * Grade 2: Moderate; an AE that was sufficiently discomforting to interfere with normal everyday activities. * Grade 3: Severe; an AE that prevented normal everyday activities. Each adverse event was assessed by the investigator for causality as unrelated, unlikely, possibly, or probably related to the vaccination.
Time frame: From Day 0 up to 42 days
Number of Participants With Clinically Relevant Deviations From Normal Laboratory Evaluations
Clinical laboratory test values were evaluated according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 4.03 (toxicity grades) or in accordance with the normal ranges of the clinical laboratory (below, within, or above normal range) for parameters for which no toxicity grades were defined. Clinical chemistry assessments included total bilirubin, glucose, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, calcium, inorganic phosphate, potassium, sodium, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and C-reactive protein (CRP). Hematology assessments included hemoglobin, hematocrit, red blood cells, and white blood cells with differential.
Time frame: Screening, Day 7, Day 14, and Day 28
Anti-Poliovirus Type-2 Neutralizing Antibody Titers
Neutralizing antibodies against poliovirus type 2 were determined using the WHO standard microneutralization assay (WHO EPI GEN 93.9).
Time frame: Day 0 and Day 28
Seroprotection Rate
Seroprotection rate was defined as the percentage of participants in each group with anti-type 2-specific poliovirus neutralizing antibodies titers ≥ 1:8.
Time frame: Day 0 and Day 28
Seroconversion Rate
Seroconversion rate is defined as the percentage of participants in each group with a change from seronegative to seropositive (poliovirus type-2-specific neutralizing antibody titers ≥ 1:8) or, in participants seropositive at Baseline, an increase in neutralizing antibody titer of at least four-fold from Baseline.
Time frame: Day 28
Neurovirulence Assessed by the Average Percent Paralysis in Inoculated Mice
Neurovirulence of shed virus was measured using a modified WHO poliovirus receptor transgenic mouse neurovirulence test (mTgmNVT). The last stool sample provided by each participant that had adequate concentrations of virus for the neurovirulence assay (≥ 4 log₁₀\[CCID₅₀/g\]) was used in the test. For each stool specimen thirty Tg-PVR21 mice were administered intraspinal inoculations of 4 log₁₀(CCID₅₀) amplified virus. After 14 days the inoculated mice were assessed as either paralyzed or non-paralyzed. For each participant/sample, the percentage of paralyzed mice was calculated. Overall percent paralysis is the average percentage of paralyzed mice over all participants in each group.
Time frame: Samples tested were the last post-vaccination sample per participant suitable for analysis; samples used in the analysis ranged from Day 2 to Day 56