The U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) is expanding the Institute’s countermeasure development infrastructure by partnering with WRAIR’s Pilot Bioproduction Facility (PBF) to build in-house mRNA manufacturing capabilities. This integrated effort strengthens WRAIR’s unique capacity within the Department of War to translate scientific discoveries into medical countermeasures that directly support defense health priorities.
Integrated Research and Manufacturing Capability
WRAIR’s PBF is a current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP)-compliant facility that produces vaccines and biologics for use in early-stage clinical trials. Establishing mRNA production technology in-house enables WRAIR scientists to move countermeasure concepts more rapidly from design to testing while maintaining quality and regulatory standards.
The close integration of research and product production allows cross-disciplinary teams to address key challenges, such as scalability, quality control, and regulatory readiness, early in the development process. By minimizing reliance on external manufacturing partners, WRAIR can accelerate the transition from laboratory discoveries to clinical evaluation while reducing costs and development timeline for critical medical countermeasures.
Advancing an Innovative HIV Prevention Approach
Within WRAIR, MHRP conducts globally-recognized research on HIV prevention tools including vaccines and broadly neutralizing antibodies. Partnering with the PBF, MHRP researchers are working towards manufacturing a novel mRNA HIV vaccine based on Dr. Morgane Rolland’s multiple founder variant (MFV) design. Dr. Rolland is chief of MHRP’s viral genomics lab section, and her team’s strategy is based on the genetic diversity of so-called “founder viruses” of HIV at the time of transmission.
In many cases when a person acquires HIV, multiple founder viruses establish infection simultaneously, and over the course of days and weeks, these viruses begin to mutate and diversify even further. The immune system must create broadly neutralizing antibodies capable of recognizing many variants of the virus.
The MFV vaccine concept attempts to mimic the diversity of virus variants present in early infection by incorporating multiple founder virus sequences into mRNA constructs and presenting them in a single vaccine formulation. The goal is to elicit broad, durable immune responses by training immune cells to recognize a broader range of HIV variants.
Collaborative Effort Across WRAIR
This project represents a highly integrated, cross-institutional effort across WRAIR. In the viral genetics section, Drs. Rolland, Eric Lewitus, and Hongjun Bai developed the MFV concept and designed promising antigens in collaboration with WRAIR’s structural biology team and Mohamed-Gabriel Alameh at the University of Pennsylvania.
MHRP’s Product Quality team is working with the PBF to manufacture the MFV vaccine targeting HIV subtype B, the most subtype in North America. They are also developing the processes and analytical assays needed to ensure product concentration, quality, and stability.
Preclinical studies are conducted by Dr. Mangala Rao and Dr. Diane Bolton, along with additional analyses led by Dr. Shelly Krebs and her B cell biology team to help evaluate the candidate vaccine. This work is supported through funding from the Defense Health Agency Military Infectious Diseases Portfolio. In parallel, Dr. Rolland’s team has developed MFV antigens targeting HIV subtype C through a project funded by the National Institutes of Health and led by Dr. Sandhya Vasan.
Looking ahead, WRAIR and the PBF aim to manufacture enough candidate vaccine product to complete pharmacology and toxicology studies and eventual Phase 1 clinical trials through MHRP’s international network of partner sites. Beyond advancing promising vaccine technology, the effort demonstrates how integrated research, manufacturing, and clinical capabilities within WRAIR strengthen the Department of War’s ability to rapidly and efficiently develop countermeasures for infectious disease threats, supporting force readiness across the global operating environment.
| Date Taken: | 04.29.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 05.21.2026 13:16 |
| Story ID: | 563879 |
| Location: | SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 8 |
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This work, Accelerating HIV Countermeasure Innovation Through mRNA Manufacturing Capabilities, by Jamie Livengood, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
