A Phase 1, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Dose-Escalating Study to Evaluate Safety, Tolerability, and Immunogenicity of Leish-111f + MPL-SE Vaccine in Combination With Pentavalent Antimony in Treatment of Mucosal Leishmaniasis

Mucosal leishmaniasis is a disfiguring and possibly fatal infection. All available medical therapies require weeks of treatment and cause significant toxicity. In Peru, the standard therapy is daily intravenous (IV) pentavalent antimony (20 mg/kg/day) for 28 days. It appears that Leishmania infections can be eliminated by T helper 1 immune responses. These findings argue that a vaccine that augments mucosal leishmaniasis patients' T helper 1 responses will eliminate the infection and disease. This study is a phase 1, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, sequential dose-escalating trial to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of three injections of 5, 10, or 20 μg of Leish-111f protein + 25 μg of MPL-SE adjuvant given at 4 week intervals as an adjunct to standard chemotherapy with pentavalent antimony (20 mg/kg/day for 28 days) in patients with mucosal leishmaniasis.