Rapid Response Preventative Vaccines for Zika Virus Outbreak
Although known to the world since its discovery in Uganda in 1947, the Zika flavivirus (ZIKV) has recently attracted global attention due to its rapid spread from Brazil to several countries and territories in the Americas. The significant rise in the number of babies born with microencephaly and neurological disorders such as Guillan-Barré syndrome has caused the World Health Organization to declare ZIKV a “Global Emergency.” Although successful development of flavivirus vaccines began 80 years ago, several severe adverse events associated with vaccine administration have been observed over the last 20 years and there is a dire need for alternate solutions.
Description
Pitt researchers have developed a recombinant adenoviral vector-expressing codon-optimized ZIKV E antigen and a subunit recombinant ZIKV E vaccine combined with a skin-targeting vaccine delivery technology to specifically create advantages in immunogenicity, economy, and safety in order to enable broad, effective clinical deployment. The vaccine delivery system is an intracutaneous microneedle array (MNA)-based delivery system, found to be superior to intramuscular administration in both the potency and duration of the induced immune response. The MNA vaccine delivery system also affords unique advantages in reproducibility, safety, manufacturing, and distribution, relieving pressure on the cost-intensive “cold chain” requires to preserve vaccine potency within a restricted temperature range for delivery and distribution in developing countries. The synergistic integration of this effective vaccine and delivery method has distinct advantages critical for widespread clinical deployment.Applications
· Preventing Zika virus and associated birth defects· MNA delivery can be used for other vaccines
Advantages
· Delivery method is superior to intramuscular delivery in both potency and duration of immune response· Potential for local co-delivery of adjuvants at very low doses
· Recombinant vaccine has lower risk of adverse side effects
· MNA delivery is painless and bloodless
· MNA fabrication is easily reproducible and cost-effective
· MNA stabilization renders subunit vaccines resistant to high and low temperatures, facilitating easy delivery and distribution