Comprehensive Meningococcal Vaccine - Isis Project No 1538

A new meningitis vaccine, which is broadly protective against many types of this diverse bacterium, has been identified by Researchers from the Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research and the Department of Paediatrics, in collaboration with scientists form the National Institute for Biological Standards and Controls.

Background

Neisseria meningitidis, the causative agent in meningococcal disease, is an important cause of life-threatening infections in infants, children and young adults, carrying a significant risk of death.  Despite antimicrobial therapy 10% of patients die and another 10-20% are left with brain damage, hearing loss or learning disability.  There are a number of different types of N.meningitidis, but the most dangerous groups are classified A, B, C W135 and Y.

Opportunity

Routine vaccinations with polysaccharide vaccines have decreased the incidence of bacterial meningitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae, but comprehensive vaccines against Steptococcus pneumoniae and N.meningitidis are proving elusive.  Polysaccharide vaccines are not appropriate for routine immunization due to poor immunogenicity in infants and a lack of long term immunity in adults.  Repeated doses of some polysaccharide vaccines cause them to become ineffective so polysaccharide vaccines are used primarily in mass vaccinations for the control of epidemics, or for use by travellers visiting high-risk areas.  No polysaccharide vaccines are available against group B meningitis as the group B polysaccharide structure is poorly immunogenic and identical to host antigens.

The alternative outer membrane protein vaccines are usually only considered suitable for strain-specific vaccination, as the outer membrane protein antigens are highly diverse between different strains.

The Oxford Invention

Oxford based research has developed a new method to produce outer membrane protein based vaccines using a combination of a limited number of antigenic variants of key outer membrane proteins.  This approach provides relatively simple meningitis outer membrane protein based vaccines, effective against a wide range of invasive strains.

Patent Status

Isis Innovation has filed a patent application on this technology and is now seeking a commercial partner to further advance and exploit this important breakthrough in vaccine development.

Request Further Information: Project Number 1538 - Comprehensive Meningococcal Vaccine