Overview
Bacterial live vector vaccines represent a strategy offering exceptional flexibility for vaccine development. In this approach, genes that encode foreign antigens of unrelated bacterial, viral, or parasitic pathogens are expressed in an attenuated bacterial vaccine strain that delivers these foreign antigens to the immune system, thereby eliciting relevant immune responses. Significant progress has been achieved by UMB researchers in particular with the development of live vector vaccines incorporating precise mutations in strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi and Shigella flexneri 2a. Advances have been made in genetically stabilized expression plasmids, antigen export systems to improve foreign antigen-specific immunity, and the establishment of intranasal models in both mice and non-human primates for characterizing mucosal, humoral, and cellular immune responses to these live vectors. Of critical importance to further clinical trials, non-antibiotic plasmid selection systems have recently been engineered at UMB to improve the clinical utility of these vaccines. Another successful strategy is to vaccinate by heterologous mucosal priming followed by a parenteral subunit vaccine booster, which results in enhanced and broadened anamnestic reponses. Several advances and strategies for the successful development of highly immunogenic live vector vaccines are detailed in the UMB technology summaries listed below.
Applications
Bacterial live vector vaccines with recombinant plasmid expression systems
Advantages
-Genetic flexibility -Genetic stability -High immunogenicity -Safety
Licensing Potential
UMB seeks partners for development in multiple fields.
Contact Info
Office of Technology Transfer
620 W Lexington St., 4th Floor
Baltimore, MD 21201
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (410) 706-2380