Saar Kuzi
Alessandra Coutinho Fernandes
William Cope
Richard Tapping
Kashif Ahmad
Reda Sadki
Shubhra Kanti Karmaker Santu
Adam P Rusch
Elizabeth Edwards
Matthew LawFA16 Immunization Module’s Updates
Technological hurdles for generating and administering vaccines
This article describes a method in which vaccines could possibly be produced on site in an area of need, rather than producing vaccines in a centralized laboratory. Some issues facing the vaccination of some populations is the ability to physically deliver a viable vaccine to that population. Some major obstacles for vaccine production are the expensive equipment required to produce the vaccine, the need for experienced technicians to run the equipment, and the monetary resources to maintain a facility to produce that vaccine. Even after the production of the vaccine, some vaccines may require refrigeration or have relatively short self-lives. These issues are especially apparent for developing countries, which may lack the necessary infrastructure as well as the resources for such facilities.
This platform utilizes freeze-dried, cell free pellets which are combined with a second kind of dry pellet containing DNA template constructs. These two pellets can then me mixed with water to produce the desired biomolecules. In this case, the necessary components of a vaccine to be administered via injection. The freeze dried pellets can be stored separately for over a year, and the mixing of pellets with water does not require expensive machinery or high skilled technicians to do.
The article mentions specifically utilizing this platform for the production of anthrax, botulinum, and diphtheria vaccines. In detail they outline the production of diphtheria toxoid antigen production using this system. They injected this vaccine into mice, and after three weeks they detected anti-IgG antibody production against diphtheria toxoid. Essentially, they show that using this system they can create an immunity in mice against diphtheria.
This is just showing IgG production in mice against diphtheria toxin. Group1 received no injection, Group 2 received an injection with a vaccine without the antigen produced by this technology, and Group 3 received a vaccination containing antigen produced by this technology.
Resource Article
http://dx.doi.org.proxy.cc.uic.edu/10.1016/j.cell.2016.09.013
What a great concept! This could overcome significant hurdles in delivering vaccines to impoverished areas where there is great need. Another hurdle would be convincing the population that they need the vaccine, and for that we would need people who speak their language and understand the culture to promote and deliver vaccinations. A few questions about the study: How long were the freeze-dried vaccines stored before they were administered to the mice? Could the shelf life be extended more than a year? This shows great promise for eradicating diseases that have been wiped out in more wealthy countries but continue to cause suffering in poorer countries.