Nanoparticle-based Vaccine Platform against Zika Virus Infection

Zika virus outbreak prompted the World Health Organization to declare this infection as a public health emergency. The infection is associated with fetal and neurological disorders and Zika vaccine must be developed. Zika belongs to the flavivirus family and to date, a few Zika vaccine candidates are under clinical trials but without concern about cost, stability in warm countries, large-scale production, feasibility or the administration route, especially in low and middle-income countries. Another evaded concern is the antibody-dependent enhancement of infection (ADE), a process aggravating the severity of co-infection by other flaviviruses when vaccinated.
Our project aims at developing new applications for our vaccine platform based on innovative nanoparticles (NPs) for which the proof-of-concept of the vaccine potential and efficacy has already been established. Our technology is safe, easy to produce at the industrial scale, it stabilizes the vaccine components even at high temperature (40°C), it is delivered via the nasal route and it elicits strong T-cell responses. The proposed target is the Zika virus and the strategy will use in parallel the inactivated virus and the recombinant antigenic DIII domain of the viral envelop to limit the ADE. The absence of antibody-enhanced infection by the vaccination will be evaluated against Dengue virus (DENV).
This project is the first step for the development of a technological vaccine platform against viruses to treat current and future viral outbreaks and unlimited perspectives are possible, starting with other flaviviruses like Dengue or Chikungunya viruses.