Reviews & Analysis

The 2016 Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic catalyzed a global effort to develop diagnostic tests, vaccines, and therapeutic treatments. However, the rapid waning epidemiology of ZIKV stalled many countermeasure development efforts. On January 31 and February 1, 2023, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) hosted “Continuing Development of Vaccines and Monoclonal Antibodies Against Zika Virus,” a workshop of assembled experts from multiple fields and sectors to review the latest ZIKV research findings and develop recommendations for advancing vaccines and monoclonal antibodies. This report describes the workshop proceedings and summarizes the key challenges and major recommendations identified at the workshop. While the current incidence and testing for ZIKV are low globally, ZIKV has not disappeared, and future large-scale outbreaks are possible. Developing an effective vaccine and monoclonal antibody treatment is still a public health priority, especially for persons who can become pregnant and who live or travel in ZIKV-endemic regions.

On 27–29^th of September 2022, Wellcome convened an international multi-stakeholder workshop to discuss the use of Correlates of Protection (CoP) to accelerate vaccine development, the hybrid format meeting was attended by 80 delegates including developers, manufacturers, regulators, public health officials and policy-makers from 17 countries, including 7 LMIC’s.

The US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institute of Health (NIH), convened a virtual workshop on August 8-9^th, 2023 to explore potential synergies between HIV vaccine approaches that are designed to induce cellular or humoral immune responses. The goal of this workshop was to review data on leading vaccine candidates and to discuss the best strategies for combining these approaches to optimize immunity against HIV. Here, we summarize the findings reviewed at the workshop and discuss the knowledge gaps and priorities for future studies that will help accelerate the development of a preventive HIV vaccine.