What is Developvaccines@oru

Developvaccines@oru addresses important gaps in vaccination by exploring novel routes of Composition and formulation (subproject 1), Production (subproject 2) and Vaccination and evaluation (subproject 3). This Synergy project provide profound knowledge on the biological agents and the immune responses required to develop sustainable novel vaccines by answering the core question:

“How can vaccination directly applied on mucosal membranes of the body be optimized for different types of prototype vaccines? ”

Specifically, we explore immunization applied directly via the mucosal membranes (airways and gastrointestinal tract), which are considered important routes for the next-generation vaccines. An important fact is that many infectious agents enter the body via mucosal surfaces and that these surfaces harbor around two thirds of the body’s immune system. Thus, novel vaccine constructs and compositions are required. We specifically highlight new vaccine delivery methods, by developing prototype vaccines that generate mucosal immunity and stimulates the lymphoid tissue of the nose, mouth and gut. To do this we develop new combinations of vaccine proteins in addition to improved and new adjuvants (immune-stimulating compounds included to enhance the effect) to increase mucosal immunity. We also develop and improve production and purification strategies for this type of vaccines. In addition, we provide further understanding of the immunology of this part of the immune system by studying the specific mechanisms underlying its immune responses. The research is based on state-of-the-art technology from the scientific as well as the industrial vaccine community.

The subproject in relation to the core question

The different subprojects address issues of importance for the successive development of the main objective, i.e. to create new routes and means of vaccination by utilizing the unique competence of our research groups and of the participating partners. Answering the core question leads to the development of optimized mucosal prototype vaccines. The knowledge and ideas are distributed and shared with the other subprojects as they develop. By this approach, a vaccine construct may be tested in different expression and delivery systems and with different adjuvants depending on the results obtained throughout the Synergy. Each subproject will benefit and develop from new data obtained in the other subprojects.

Schematic overview of the Synergy outline. The core-question (black arrow) will be answered through the different subprojects (orange, green and blue) which have themes defined to support the process and will be investigated in an interconnected manner leading into the development of novel mucosal vaccines (white). Arrows represent the flow of knowledge back and forth between the Synergy core question and the subprojects.