Literature update ViVa week 24-2026

=1. Mpox joins the mRNA club: BioNTech’s first in-human BNT166a data hint at broad orthopox potential—but neutralizing titers fade fast In this phase 1, first-in-human, open-label dose escalation study, healthy Vaccinia virus (VACV ) naive and VACV experienced adults received two doses of quadrivalent mpox mRNA vaccine candidate BNT166a. All four encoded antigens were immunogenic, with binding antibodies induced in 100% of participants and persisting to 12 months post dose 2. Neutralizing antibodies against MPXV clade IIb, MPXV clade Ia, and vaccinia virus were detected in most participants after dose 2, peaking at 2 weeks to 1 month, then waning toward baseline over 12 months, more markedly in VACV-naive adults. The vaccine was reasonably safe and well-tolerated, with expected local and systemic reactogenicity and no major safety signals. In the absence of an established correlate of protection for mpox, the clinical relevance of waning neutralization remains uncertain, but the cross-clade neutralization...