Protein Glycan Coupling Technology and the Development of Novel Conjugate Vaccines

Brendan Wren of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in the UK will test a new bacterial synthesis method, Protein Glycan Coupling Technology. This method uses bacteria to attach proteins to glycans to produce glycoconjugate vaccines, and it could lead to an improved vaccine against pneumococcal disease. This project's Phase I research demonstrated that a Streptococcus pneumoniae capsular polysaccharide could be transferred to a carrier protein in E. coli. In Phase II, this research will be extended to further capsular determinants with the goal of producing a broad coverage, inexpensive pneumococcal vaccine.