TLR8 Agonists: Adjuvants to Enhance Neonatal Vaccination

Ofer Levy at Children’s Hospital Boston in the U.S. will determine whether synthetic molecules called imidazoquinolines activate newborns’ white blood cells, and could be used as candidate vaccine adjuvants to dramatically enhance immunization at birth. In this project’s Phase I research, Levy demonstrated that Toll-like Receptor-7 and -8 agonists are superior to agonists of other Toll-like receptors and to alum, an already approved vaccine adjuvant, in activating newborn immune responses in studies in vitro. In Phase II, Levy will conduct in vivo studies to test the ability of these molecules to boost vaccine responses, evaluating both the safety and efficacy of this approach.