January 21, 2020

expert reaction to study on a new method to produce vaccines

A study, published in BMC Biotechnology, reports on a new vaccine production method which may make storage and transport easier.   

Prof Jimmy Whitworth, Professor of International Public Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), said:

“There are some encouraging aspects to this paper, although it provides mainly preliminary findings, and is not, at this stage, definitive.

“The production method is simple, likely to be at a low cost and does not require the use of an adjuvant (an ingredient used in some vaccines that helps create a stronger immune response).

“The vaccine is stable at ‘ambient temperature’ although the actual temperature does not seem to be specified. This could be valuable if it means that a cold chain is not needed. The stability findings are peculiar – it seems to be stable at low temperatures (-20^oC and below) and at room temperatures, but not at 4^oC, which is the temperature of an ordinary fridge. It would be good to know if it is stable at the sort of temperatures encountered in low and middle income countries – ie. around 20-40^oC.

“The vaccine induced robust immune responses in mice that persisted for 6 months.

“So, all in all, promising, and definitely worth following up to demonstrate its stability at relevant temperatures, that it works with a variety of vaccine constructs, and that it induces immune responses in humans.”

‘A self-aggregating peptide: implications for the development of thermostable vaccine candidates’ by Cruz-Reséndiz et al. was published in BMC Biotechnology.  

DOI: 10.1186/s12896-019-0592-9

Declared interests

Prof Jimmy Whitworth: “No conflicts to declare.”