Mers vaccine helps mice fight off deadly virus

Today, there is no real treatment or vaccine that can tackle Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers), a virus that was first detected in 2012 and has already affected 339 people in Saudi Arabia, killing 102. It’s not known how it is transmitted in people, and there is only some evidence to suggest camels might be the most likely animal reservoir responsible for the strain. Now, a team from the University of Maryland and biopharmaceutical company Novavax says its vaccine candidate has successfully induced neutralising antibodies that effectively block the virus from infecting cells in mice. Vaccine development is typically very slow, and two papers were only just published identifying a few natural human antibodies that could serve as a basis for new vaccine models targeting Mers. However, Novavax has developed a technique it believes has the potential to be the undoing — if pursued — of coronaviruses likes Mers and Sars. They...