Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert leads world-first Nipah vaccine trial
Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, Senior Associate Research Fellow at Christ Church and Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Oxford’s Pandemic Sciences Institute, has played a central role in the launch of the world’s first Phase-II clinical trial of a vaccine against the deadly Nipah virus.
The University of Oxford has now initiated this historic trial in Bangladesh, partnering with the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) and supported by funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). This Phase-II study will assess the safety and immune response of the vaccine candidate ChAdOx1 NipahB, developed by Oxford scientists including Professor Gilbert, in a region regularly affected by Nipah outbreaks. Around 306 healthy participants aged 18–55 will be enrolled.
Nipah virus is a zoonotic pathogen with a case fatality rate of up to 75 per cent and is listed by the World Health Organization as a priority pathogen with pandemic potential. There are currently no approved vaccines or treatments for the disease, which causes severe respiratory and neurological illness and has been responsible for outbreaks in South and Southeast Asia since its first detection in 1998.
This new trial in Bangladesh marks an important step forward in our work to develop a vaccine against Nipah virus.
This new trial in Bangladesh marks an important step forward in our work to develop a vaccine against Nipah virus.
The significance of the trial has attracted national media attention and has been reported in The Telegraph, which highlighted both the lethality of the virus and the importance of developing vaccines against high-risk pathogens before wider outbreaks occur. These themes were also central to Professor Gilbert’s public address in June – the second instalment of Christ Church’s 500th Anniversary Lecture series – in which she explored the scientific and public health challenges posed by Nipah virus, alongside the global response to emerging infectious diseases.
Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert said of this milestone: ‘This new trial in Bangladesh marks an important step forward in our work to develop a vaccine against Nipah virus, a deadly health threat that currently has no approved vaccine or treatment.’
‘The progress we’ve made so far – with the support of our collaborators and funders – is testament to the value of international collaboration and long-term investment in pandemic preparedness.’
The vaccine uses the same viral vector platform as the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which was co-developed by Professor Gilbert and her colleagues and has been widely deployed across the world.
Professor Gilbert’s leadership in the development of ChAdOx1 NipahB highlights her ongoing commitment to tackling emerging infectious diseases – a commitment that Christ Church has proudly recognised through her election as an Honorary Student. Her work continues to place Oxford at the forefront of vaccine innovation and global health security.
Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert DBE FRS is a Senior Associate Research Fellow at Christ Church and Professor of Vaccinology at the University of Oxford’s Pandemic Sciences Institute. In 2020 she initiated and led the development of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19. Adopted by more than 180 countries, the vaccine is thought to have saved in excess of 6.3 million lives in its first year of use, and in 2021 Professor Gilbert was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire for her groundbreaking and lifesaving work.
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