A recombinant conjugated pneumococcal vaccine that protects against murine infections with a similar efficacy to Prevnar-13

Pneumococcal vaccines: evaluation of a multivalent pneumococcal glycoconjugate vaccine The current pneumococcal conjugate vaccine induces protective immunity to infection, but this protection is limited to the dominant disease-causing strains included in the preparation. Emerging strains not included in the vaccine are not covered, which limits the vaccine’s protective effect in areas associated with alternative pneumococcal strains. Here Jeremy Brown, Brendan Wren and colleagues have optimised and applied Protein Glycan Coupling Technology to produce recombinant pneumococcal polysaccharide/protein glycoconjugates and evaluated these in a murine model of infection. Glycoconjugate vaccination resulted in antibody production specific to both capsule and the carrier proteins, which resulted in protection in murine models of meningitis and septicaemia equivalent to that of currently used vaccination strategies. This animal study highlights the potential of glycoconjugate vaccine approaches in the context of pneumococcal mediated disease