131179Engineering immune-cell-targeting bacteria to express vaccines from within the bodyClosedFeasibility StudiesInnovate UKProkarium Ltd of Keele, Staffordshire, has invented Vaxonella, a synthetic biology platform that promises to eliminate the need for needles for many vaccines. This is not only convenient for UK travellers going abroad, but will be essential in preventing diseases in rural areas where people do not have access to medical professionals. Vaxonella is based on a safe bacterium that has been taken orally by hundreds of volunteers in clinical trials in three different countries. Prokarium’s technologies allow it to programme this bacterium to produce almost any kind of protein vaccine from within the gut’s own immune cells. The financial help from the UK government’s Technology Strategy Board and collaboration with the University of Birmingham will allow Prokarium to test Vaxonella for preventing diarrhoea caused by Enterotoxigenic E. coli, Clostridium difficile and Typhoid, which infect millions and kills hundreds of thousands of persons annually, many of them children and the elderly.