Self-Administered Vaccines Directed Against Plague and MERS

The objective of this proposal is to develop a technology platform for producing safe, temperature-stable vaccines for global diseases. A particular focus will be self-administered delivery by oral vaccination because this can be carried out efficiently in resource-poor settings and is highly desirable to prevent serious endemic diseases in at-risk populations. Using our innovative oral vaccine formulation technology, we intend to formulate recombinant protective antigens to protect against the serious diseases of MERS and plague for which no licensed vaccines currently exist. The applicant, Proxima Concepts Ltd, will supplement its in-house formulation expertise with input from contracted partners that have state-of-the-arts capabilities in recombinant antigen production, preclinical vaccine testing (DSTL), protein antigen stabilisation and formulation (University of Strathclyde). This combined expertise will enable us to demonstrate the scientific and technical feasibility of developing a candidate vaccine for each of the indications over the 12 months of the project. In addition the project is designed to generate sufficient pre-clinical data to support the planned transition towards clinical development.

The basic concept for these vaccines is that an injected priming dose would be administered by trained medical personnel in a health centre. The patient would then return home and subsequently self-administer the boost(s) by taking an enteric-coated capsule containing an oral formulation of the same vaccine

This programme of work will produce stable vaccine formulations which can be rapidly and cost-effectively manufactured in an emergency situation and quickly deployed in potential epidemic areas. The combination of an injected prime and oral boost is an innovative approach to vaccines for prevention of respiratory infections but could potentially provide a platform for protecting against other epidemic diseases.