Leishmania major human challenge model

Leishmaniasis is widely regarded as a vaccine-preventable disease, but the costsrequired to reach pivotal Phase 3 studies and uncertainty about which candidate vaccinesshould be progressed into human studies significantly limits progress in vaccine developmentfor this neglected tropical disease. Controlled human challenge models (CHIM) provide apathway for accelerating vaccine development and to more fully understand diseasepathogenesis and correlates of protection.Two fresh isolates ofL. major from Israel were initially compared by genome sequencing, in vivo infectivity anddrug sensitivity in mice, and development and transmission competence in sand flies,allowing one (L. major_MRC-02) to be selected for GMP production.