- Published
- 29 December 2024
- Journal article
Immunobridging trials: an important tool to protect vulnerable and immunocompromised patients against evolving pathogens
- Authors
- Source
- Vaccines
Full text
Abstract
Safeguarding patients from emerging infectious diseases demands strategies that prioritise patient well-being and protection. Immunobridging is an established trial methodology which has been increasingly employed to ensure patient protection and provide clinicians with swift access to vaccines. It uses immunological markers to infer the effectiveness of a new drug through a surrogate measure of efficacy. Recently, this method has also been employed to authorise novel drugs, such as COVID-19 vaccines, and this article explores the concepts behind immunobridging trials, their advantages, issues, and significance in the context of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Our goal is to improve awareness among clinicians, patient groups, regulators, and health leaders of the opportunities and issues of immunobridging, so that fewer patients are left without protection from infectious diseases, particularly from major pathogens that may emerge.
Rights
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Cite as
Cruz, P., Lam, J., Abdalla, J., Bell, S., Bytyci, J., Brosh-Nissimov, T., Gill, J., Haidar, G., Hoerger, M., Maor, Y., Pagliuca, A., Raff, F., Samuels, F., Segev, D., Ying, Y. & Lee, L. 2024, 'Immunobridging trials: an important tool to protect vulnerable and immunocompromised patients against evolving pathogens', Vaccines, 13(1), article no: 19. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines13010019