Challenge models, also known as Controlled Human Infection Studies (CHIS), have emerged as invaluable tools for investigating host responses to respiratory virus infections and evaluating the efficacy of novel vaccines or antiviral treatments. Key to the utility of the challenge model and the success of the study is the challenge virus itself. The ideal situation is to have a range of different challenge viruses available to choose from. The availability of a panel of different influenza strains facilitates choosing a challenge virus strain that is best matched to achieve the study’s goals. In some cases, for example, it may be desired to test the efficacy of a vaccine or treatment product against a specific influenza subtype. Consequently, we have developed a panel of three new influenza virus challenge strains to add to hVIVO’s existing challenge virus portfolio. Specially we have developed a challenge strain representative of each of the three currently circulating human influenza virus subtypes: H3N2, H1N1 and B. Here we describe the production of the challenge viruses and provide
insights into the emerging data they are generating in clinical testing.
