I have heard people say in recent years that we are living in the golden age of vaccines. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the development of vaccine technologies. Regulators also approved vaccines, and manufacturers produced them, in record time, speeding up their deployment. These advances have laid the foundation for new medical breakthroughs: in the future, vaccine technology may help prevent or treat an increasingly wide range of diseases, from common respiratory infections all the way to cancer.
After attending this year’s World Vaccine Congress Europe, I gained insights into the latest developments in vaccine development and the global challenges linked to them. Current key topics include the role of vaccines in pandemic preparedness, vaccine delivery methods, and equity in the implementation of vaccinations and vaccine studies. Other important themes include population ageing, climate change and antimicrobial resistance, and their impact on future infectious diseases and vaccine-based prevention.
Many experts agree that the next pandemic is only a matter of time. Earlier this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) updated its list of the most dangerous viruses and bacteria that could trigger the next pandemic. The number of pathogens has grown to more than 30, including influenza A virus, dengue fever and mpox. More than 200 scientists assessed evidence on 1,652 pathogen species over a two-year period to determine which should be included on the list.
As a result, the WHO’s latest list identifies the most important endemic pathogens for which new vaccines are urgently needed. The list includes, for example, cytomegalovirus, influenza, norovirus, and bacterial pathogens such as Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus. Many of the bacteria on the list are also particularly important in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. These include Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Streptococcus pneumoniae and E. coli.
It has been estimated that new bacterial vaccines currently in development could, in the future, prevent 135,000 deaths, save 5 million life-years and reduce hospital costs caused by antimicrobial resistance by USD 1.2 billion.
The vaccine discussion also focused strongly on equity and on ensuring that necessary vaccines become available in low- and middle-income countries. Different vaccine delivery methods naturally help support vaccination efforts in these countries.
New vaccine candidates are being developed mainly against diseases that occur in low- and middle-income countries. As a result, clinical trials of these vaccines are also essential in these countries. Their infrastructure and expertise have continued to develop, making it possible to conduct studies and increasingly easier to bring candidate vaccines into use.
Vaccine delivery methods are also at the centre of vaccine development. Intranasal vaccines can induce mucosal immunisation, which has numerous advantages over injectable vaccines. Mucosal surfaces are the entry point for more than 90% of pathogens — from respiratory viruses to sexually transmitted infections and gastrointestinal diseases. Mucosal immunity is therefore the first line of defence against infection. Strong mucosal immunity may prevent infection altogether.
Mucosal vaccines administered as drops through the mouth or nose, or inhaled, also offer practical advantages, such as easy needle-free administration and better accessibility in areas affected by poor logistics and cold-chain challenges.
Needle-free vaccines are also under development. These are designed to deliver viral antigens painlessly to immune cells in the skin, for example through tiny microneedles attached to a patch. Vaccine delivery through a patch could eliminate the need for frozen storage and could even make it possible to deliver vaccines to people’s homes for self-administration.
The role and potential of vaccines for public health are greater than ever before. There are currently more than 100 new vaccines in development, of which as many as 42% are entirely new vaccines against diseases for which no vaccine has previously been available.
The development of a new vaccine requires the identification of antigens that induce protective immunity, the selection of adjuvants that improve immunogenicity, and the design of delivery systems that ensure optimal efficacy. This is the area of vaccine development where artificial intelligence has the greatest potential, and where it is already being used today.
AI can support this process by using machine learning methods to analyse large volumes of data, propose new vaccine antigens, refine their design and predict vaccine efficacy. Whether the vaccine platform is mRNA, viral vector, protein subunitor DNA-based, AI can accelerate the identification of protective antigens, optimise adjuvant selection, design effective delivery systems and predict protein structures.
The annual World Vaccine Congress Europe was held this year in Barcelona from 28 to 31 October. The event brings together leading experts, researchers and representatives from major pharmaceutical companies and innovative biotechnology companies. This year, more than 3,000 participants attended.
Sources:
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240098787
Dotiwala F, Upadhyay AK. Next Generation Mucosal Vaccine Strategy for Respiratory Pathogens. Vaccines (Basel). 2023 Oct 12;11(10):1585. doi: 10.3390/vaccines11101585. PMID: 37896988; PMCID: PMC10611113.
https://www.vaccineseurope.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/VaccinesEurope-PipelineReview2023.pdf
Marissa Gripenberg, R&D Specialist
FVR – Finnish Vaccine Research
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