Overview
- The NIHR-backed Champion-1 study found BPZE1 prevented Bordetella pertussis from establishing in the nose and throat, a first shown in humans.
- Results from 53 adults were published in The Lancet Microbe and led by Professor Robert Read at the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre.
- Public health minister Ashley Dalton called the finding a "major breakthrough," while stressing it requires confirmation in larger studies.
- Existing NHS vaccines, including the antenatal jab, protect infants but do not reliably stop carriage or transmission of the bacteria.
- ILiAD Biotechnologies says it lacks clinical data for pregnancy use and plans further studies, with potential deployment to adults and children only if approved.