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Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumonia) can cause several different types of infection including chest colds and pneumonia. M. pneumoniae is a leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia. People of all ages are at risk for getting M. pneumonia infection, but it is most common among young adults and school-aged children. Current methods of detecting this agent are laborious and time consuming, so testing is not usually performed. However, knowing whether someone has M. pneumoniae infection is important for choosing the right antibiotic for treatment.

Ebola virus (EBOV) hemorrhagic fever is one of the most lethal viral infections and lacks a licensed vaccine. EBOV is transmitted by contact with body fluids from infected individuals including droplets or aerosols. Aerosolized EBOV could also be exploited for intentional virus spread. Therefore, vaccines that protect against mucosal and systemic exposure are needed.

Millions of people are infected with HIV-1 worldwide, and 2.5 to 3 million new infections have been estimated to occur yearly. Although effective antiretroviral therapies are available, millions succumb to AIDS every year, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, underscoring the need to develop measures to prevent the spread of this disease.

The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) fusion (F) glycoprotein is the primary target of neutralizing antibodies. The F glycoprotein exists in at least two conformations, a meta-stable prefusion state, and an extremely stable postfusion state. Both states share several epitopes targeted by neutralizing antibodies, but it has been demonstrated that the prefusion conformation of F contains at least one epitope not present in the postfusion conformation.

Human metapneumovirus (hMPV), a negative, single-stranded RNA virus, accounts for approximately 5-15% of infant respiratory tract infections and poses a severe risk of disease and hospitalization in both the elderly and the immunocompromised. Investigators at the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) have generated an hMPV fusion glycoprotein (“F protein”) stabilized in a prefusion conformation.

Scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) recently discovered a human neutralizing antibody, 10E8, that binds to the GP41 protein of HIV-1 and prevents infection by HIV-1. 10E8 potently neutralizes up to 98% of genetically diverse HIV-1 strains.

By engineering the 10E8 antibody, NIAID scientists have improved the properties of 10E8 that affect manufacturability, such as solubility, while preserving its neutralizing breadth and potency.

An effective human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vaccine has long been sought to contend with the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) pandemic.

One approach researchers have taken to elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV-1 is to stabilize the structurally flexible HIV-1 envelope (Env) trimer. Researchers stabilized the Env trimer in a conformation that displays predominantly broadly neutralizing epitopes and few non-neutralizing epitopes. Currently, BG505 DS-SOSIP is a leading vaccine candidate with the desired conformation and antigenicity.

Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) bacteria, or pneumococcus, can cause many types of illnesses. These range from ear and sinus infections to life-threatening conditions such as pneumonia, bloodstream infections, and meningitis. Pneumococci are surrounded by a polysaccharide capsule, which is thought to help it evade the immune system. Presently, over 90 known serotypes of S. pneumoniae have been identified, of which only a minority produce the majority of pneumococcal infections; a serotype is defined by a unique pneumococcal capsule structure.

Nipah virus is an emerging pathogenic paramyxovirus responsible for sporadic and isolated outbreaks of severe respiratory and neurologic disease in Southern Asia. As a zoonotic virus, disease can manifest in both animals and human with indigenous fruit bats acting as natural reservoirs of the virus. The effects of viral infection vary from acute respiratory distress to fatal encephalitis.

Currently, fed-batch processes are the most commonly used bioprocesses in transient gene expression (TGE) vaccine manufacturing. However, because fed-batch processes keep all the cells and protein product in the vessel throughout the run, some limitations are intrinsic. First, waste products like cell debris or other unwanted small molecules accumulate in the vessel with a potential to disrupt the cell growth, protein production, and the stability of the generated protein of interest.