Advancing a multivalent ‘Pan-anthelmintic’ vaccine against soil-transmitted nematode infections

Zhan, Bin; Beaumier, Coreen M; Briggs, Neima; Jones, Kathryn M; Keegan, Brian P; Bottazzi, Maria Elena; Hotez, Peter J

Five-year view The next 5 years will be focused on working to resolve the major gaps and key issues that could hinder or slow a pan-helminthic vaccine development program. One major goal will be spearheading a focused antigen discovery program for both Ascaris and Trichuris and their eventual down-selection as detailed above. Once the antigens are identified and expressed, they will enter a process development, characterization and initial stability assessment program. A main consideration will include designing a formulation that will support stability of not only the candidate Ascaris and Trichuris antigens but also the Human Hookworm Vaccine antigens. Another key endeavor will be to build on previous preclinical studies to establish a suitable animal model for the Pan-anthelmintic vaccine. This model would support both immunogenicity and preclinical efficacy studies of our vaccine candidates, as we move toward an investigational new drug filing and clinical trials. Such studies will be critical for determining if the protective immunity achieved for these helminth antigens in laboratory animals can translate to human medicine. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.