Speeding vaccine development - refining in vitro tests to predict in vivo efficacy

Liposomes are at the forefront of vaccine adjuvant design as they can both deliver antigen and exert adjuvant effects. A major challenge to vaccine development is our ability to predict which liposome formulations will be effective in vivo and typical strategies for development of novel formulations are heavily reliant on animal tests from an early stage. Our aim is to identify an in vitro fingerprint of in vivo efficacy of liposome formulations using Aston's bank of exisitng in vivo data. Our work has established in vitro models of antigen presenting cells (APC) and developed a panel of in vitro tests of APC function that permit discrimination of highly effective from ineffective liposome formulations.

This project will now assess this panel of tests against a broader range of formulations with greater distribution of in vivo efficacy, and refine the panel of in vitro tests to identify a biomarker fingerprint of effective in vivo preparations of liposomes. This fingerprint may then be used in future work to screen libraries of formulations in vitro for likely in vivo efficacy. The training for the excellent scientist will involve the use of novel in vitro technology to address the 3Rs principles and promote vaccine development.