There is currently no licensed vaccine for Lassa fever, despite it being a serious public health concern in parts of West Africa. The viral hemorrhagic disease, which damages blood vessels, is caused by the Lassa virus, spreads to humans through contact with food or household items contaminated by the urine or feces of infected Mastomys rats and then spreads between humans who come into contact with the body fluids of infected persons. Symptoms can appear 1–3 weeks after exposure and range from mild issues like fever and headaches to severe complications such as bleeding, difficulties with breathing, and organ failure. While many people experience mild symptoms, severe cases can be life-threatening if not treated.

The Advancing Research Capacity in West Africa (ARC-WA) project led by IVI and Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia (MRCG) at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine has two distinct but inter-connected aims to ensure the West African sub-region is equipped to deal with the threat of endemic diseases like Lassa fever and both known and unknown outbreak diseases:

1. Preparing clinical trial sites for Phase 2b and Phase 3 Lassa fever vaccine clinical trials in Lassa fever-endemic West African countries
2. Developing and advancing regional strategies to rapidly generate clinical evidence around vaccines and other biological countermeasures during emergencies

Working with Africa CDC, the West African Health Organization (WAHO), and national governments and research institutes in the sub-region, these aims converge toward a broader goal of establishing a network of clinical trial sites compliant with Good Clinical Practice standards across the region, ready to respond to future public health emergencies. This project is supported by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and embodies CEPI’s 100 Day Mission to prevent future outbreaks from realizing their pandemic potential.

From 1-3 October 2024, partners from Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital and Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki in Nigeria traveled to three facilities in Kenya to experience first-hand the full spectrum of research, operations, and community engagement involved in world-class vaccine research and clinical trials. This benchmarking visit was an opportunity for our Nigerian partners to gain insight and interface directly with colleagues from already established and operational clinical sites.

Multidisciplinary teams from KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kilifi as well as the KEMRI-Center for Global Health Research and KEMRI Siaya District Hospital Clinical Research Centre in Kisumu hosted team members from the two Nigerian research hospitals, walking through research methodologies and best practices from clinical research and field trials to coordination and management of satellite sites, community engagement, operations of demographic and health surveillance systems, ethics and governance, and more.

Similarly, the ARC-WA project’s other Technical Coordinating Partner, MRCG, hosted another series of these benchmarking visits with partnering institutions from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Liberia for the week of 11 November 2024. Health researchers from Federal Medical Centre, Owo, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Kenema Government Hospital, and Phebe Hospital convened in Serrekunda, in The Gambia, to learn more about MRCG’s research capacity and technologies for clinical studies and had the opportunity to tour MRCG’s serology and molecular biology labs, clinical services, and clinical trial sites.

The broader aim of the ARC-WA project focuses on advancing regional strategies and collaboration for future outbreak preparedness and coordinated clinical research. From 31 October-1 November 2024, IVI and MRCG, alongside Africa CDC, WAHO, and CEPI, co-organized the Research Preparedness Ecosystem Engagement Workshop in Accra, Ghana, bringing together stakeholders across policy, infectious disease research, the healthcare industry, and civil society to gain consensus on the current landscape of West Africa’s clinical trial research capacities and infrastructure while identifying gaps and opportunities for investment and capacity development. Through a multisectoral, highly iterative and collaborative process, we began co-creating an actionable roadmap for sustainable and impactful vaccine research capacity across West Africa.

Through both aims, the CEPI-supported ARC-WA project envisions a multi-pronged and partner-led approach to pandemic preparedness and readiness for the West Africa sub-region, initially prioritizing the advancement of a Lassa fever vaccine. The ARC-WA team believes with onsite training, regional coordination and solidarity, stronger capacities and infrastructure, multistakeholder engagement and political will, the sub-region can build a sustainable ecosystem that is ready to prevent and respond to outbreaks and meeting the targets of CEPI’s 100 Day Mission.

by Aerie Em

Last updated: 16 December 2024