Vaccine Adjuvant Research

Most modern vaccines consist of small parts from the virus or bacterium that cause disease. Although these are carefully chosen to trigger protection from the disease, they are insufficient as an effective vaccine per se. Thus, they cannot alert the immune system sufficiently to activate it - this problem is solved by adding adjuvants.

At SSI we develop liposome-based adjuvant systems. These liposomes are designed to effectively activate the immune system. The result is a very effective vaccine directed precisely against the parts of the microorganism that provide the best protection. We aim to rationally design adjuvants to give immune profiles matching the challenges posed by different microorganisms.

Our core adjuvant system, named CAF, is recognized by vaccine researchers worldwide:

CAF01

The first adjuvant in the CAF series is called CAF01. Clinical trials in humans have shown that it is both safe and highly effective, both for inducing antibody responses and at activating vaccine-specific helper T cells that play an important role in the immune response against e.g. tuberculosis: A novel liposomal adjuvant system, CAF01, promotes long-lived Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific T-cell responses in humanand Chlamydia:  Safety and immunogenicity of the chlamydia vaccine candidate CTH522 adjuvanted with CAF01 liposomes or aluminium hydroxide: a first-in-human, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 1 trial

CAF09b

The adjuvant CAF09b activates killer T cells of the immune system, which play an important role in the fight against e.g. cancer and viruses. CAF09b has been tested in humans in a vaccine against prostate cancer: First in man study: Bcl-Xl_42-CAF®09b vaccines in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer and in a neoantigen-based vaccine against metastatic melanoma: Personalized therapy with peptide-based neoantigen vaccine (EVX-01) including a novel adjuvant, CAF®09b, in patients with metastatic melanoma

CAF10b

CAF10b is designed to effectively stimulate a component of the T cell immune response named Th17 cells. CAF10b is currently undergoing evaluation in humans in a vaccine against Mycobacterium tuberculosis:  First-in-Human Trial of the Novel Tuberculosis Vaccine Candidate, H107e/CAF®10b (nTB-01)

Research projects

FLUniversal

Title: Intranasal, rapid-acting vaccine for all seasonal and pandemic influenza viruses

Objective: The FLUniversal consortium aims to develop DeltaFLU as a universal influenza vaccine that protects against all influenza virus strains. To accelerate the clinical development of influenza vaccine candidates in general, FLUniversal will also develop a controlled human infection clinical challenge model and assess correlates of protection against influenza virus.

Participants: FLUniversal is a European consortium comprising Vivaldi Biosciences, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Statens Serum Institut (SSI), Vismederi, The Centre for Human Drug Research (CHDR), Meditox and MHRA.

Funded by: European Union H2020

EU logo

Contact: Gabriel Pedersen, gakp@ssi.dk

AVAR-T

Title: ADVANCING VACCINE ADJUVANT RESEARCH FOR TUBERCULOSIS

Objective: The purpose of the AVAR-T consortium is to develop novel vaccine adjuvants that can accelerate tuberculosis vaccine development. Different antigen/adjuvant combinations will be benchmarked in an unbiased fashion, to propose antigen/adjuvant formulations to move forward.

Participants: AVAR-T is an international consortium comprising partners from Australia (University of Sydney), United States (Oregon Health & Science University) and Denmark (Statens Serum Institut).

Funded by: NIH

Contact: Gabriel Pedersen, gakp@ssi.dk

Gabriel Kristian Pedersen

Contact

Gabriel Kristian Pedersen , Infektionsimmunologi / Adjuvans
T. +45 32688561 @. gakp@ssi.dk View profile