From Kumasi to the world: KNUST leads Ghana’s role in DENSTAR, a global push to make dengue vaccines work for Africans

Starting on the 1 June, the DENSTAR project will work to advance the licensure of the dengue vaccine DengiAll in sub-Saharan Africa (sSA) and to facilitate its broader global use.

The four-year initiative is funded under the Global Health European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership 3 Joint Undertaking (GH EDCTP3 JU), supported by the European Union and aligns with the EDCTP3 mission to combat Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), including dengue fever, and seeks to reduce the disease burden across Africa.

Dengue is a rapidly growing global health threat, transmitted by infected mosquitoes.

In Africa, outbreaks are increasing, yet the true disease burden remains underestimated.

While many infections are mild, severe cases can lead to shock, bleeding, and organ failure.

With no specific antiviral treatment available, prevention relies largely on mosquito control, which is increasingly challenged by climate change, urbanization, and insecticide resistance.

Existing vaccines offer only partial protection and are difficult to deploy widely, highlighting the urgent need for a safe, effective, and widely accessible solution.

Project;
The DENSTAR project is coordinated by the “Sclavo Vaccines Association”, a non-profit organization based in Siena (Italy) devoted to support vaccine research and development in developing countries.

The consortium unites 10 Partners from 9 countries across Europe, Africa, the United States, India and South Korea.

DENSTAR comprises universities, research organizations, a biotech company and a non-profit organization, bringing together experts, researchers, regulators, healthcare practitioners.

A key partner is Panacea Biotec Limited (India), developer of DengiAll, a tetravalent dengue vaccine targeting all four virus serotypes and currently in late-stage development in India.

This diverse and complementary consortium embodies a great public-private partnership, fully aligned with the DENSTAR project’s goal to promote broader use of DengiAll in Africa and globally, contributing to equitable access to safe and effective dengue prevention tools.

The DENSTAR consortium will conduct Phase I/III studies in healthy African adults and children to confirm that the DengiAll vaccine works safely and effectively in this population, paving the way for regulatory approval and deployment in sSA.

The project will also address critical knowledge gaps by evaluating vaccine efficacy against Dengue Virus serotype 4 (DENV-4) using Controlled Human Infection Models (CHIMs), an area where no vaccine has yet demonstrated protection, making this research essential to strengthening scientific evidence, and public confidence in future vaccine wider use.

The vaccine offers several advantages for widespread use, particularly in lower- and middle-income countries. It is single-dose, cost-efficient to manufacture, and suitable for large-scale deployment and technology transfer.

Unlike other dengue vaccines, it requires no prior serological testing, making it a practical and scalable solution for diverse populations and equitable immunization strategies.

Prof. Donata Medaglini, Deputy Rector of the University of Siena, Chief Scientific Officer of SVA and DENSTAR Coordinator says: “DENSTAR is a unique consortium that concentrates international excellence in vaccine research, development, manufacture, and clinical trials.

By uniting top experts from academia, industry, and non-profit organization we are forging a true public-private partnership to bridge critical gaps in dengue prevention.

By making a dengue vaccine available in Africa, we will uphold the universal right of every individual to a healthy and productive life.

We have high hopes to advance the licensure of DengiAll in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.”

Pro-Vice-Chancellor:
Prof. Ellis Owusu-Dabo, pro-vice-chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Professor of Epidemiology and Global Health at School of Public Health of the same University, and Scientific project Lead of DENSTAR added: “Dengue infections can range from mild to potentially fatal in the most severe cases. It is becoming more common in sub-Saharan African, driven primarily by climate change”.

He added that, “the primary challenge of the DENSTAR project is to advance a live-attenuated tetravalent dengue vaccine through immunobridging and controlled human infection model studies to enable its licensure in sub-Saharan Africa, where dengue infections have become more common.”

Chief Scientific Officer:
Dr. Khalid Ali Syed, Chief Scientific Officer of Panacea Biotec Limited added, “the project efforts are expected to have a lasting impact on global health, extending beyond the project’s immediate scope and duration by reducing the dengue burden, improving quality of life, alleviating pressure on health systems, and upholding the universal right to a healthy, productive life.”

Others:
Prof. Till Bärnighausen, Director of the Heidelberg Institute for Global Health (HIGH), and Dr. Florian Marks, Deputy Director General of the Epidemiology, Public Health, and Impact (EPIC) unit at the International Vaccine Institute and scientist at the HIGH, highlighted: “A key strength of DENSTAR is its commitment to sustainable capacity advancement alongside vaccine development.

The project plans to support training opportunities for MPH and PhD students embedded in the participating institutions, while also strengthening the readiness of African study sites to conduct high-quality clinical trials and related project activities.

By working jointly with participating sites and institutions, DENSTAR will help build locally led research capacity that continues beyond the lifetime of the project.”

Facts about DENSTAR:
Title: Dengue Efficacy and Safety Trial in African Region
Acronym: DENSTAR
Duration and start date: 48 months from 1st June 2026
Coordinator: Sclavo Vaccines Association ETS (Italy)
EDCTP contribution: 11 091 138.75 €
Granting authority: This project is part of the Global Health EDCTP3 JU programme supported by the European Union (Grant number: 101249135 – DENSTAR)
Participants:
• Sclavo Vaccines Association ETS (Italy)
• Panacea Biotec Limited (India)
• Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana)
• Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg (Germany)
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (United States)
• International Vaccine Institute (Republic of Korea)
• Centre de Recherches Medicales de Lambaréné (Gabon)
• Instituto Nacional de Saúde (Mozambique)
• Johns Hopkins University (United States)
• Institut National De Recherche Biomedicale Du Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

“Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or Global Health EDCTP3 JU.

Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.”