ADVANCING VACCINE ADJUVANT RESEARCH FOR TUBERCULOSIS (AVAR-T)

1) Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causing agent of tuberculosis remains one of the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, including in people living with HIV who have an increased risk of TB disease activation and poorer TB treatment outcomes.
2) The goal of this program is to further the development of preventive, including postexposure, TB vaccines through side-by-side comparisons of adjuvants in combination with Mtb immunogens, and to establish immunological profiles of adjuvants that work through different mechanisms, facilitating the identification of the most promising adjuvant:Mtb immunogen candidates for clinical development and potential identification of immune correlates of protection.
3) A systematic evaluation of several adjuvants in combination with three Mtb antigens will be conducted using mouse models to obtain a subset of adjuvant/Mtb antigen formulations that will be used in a non-human primate (NHP) model for enabling IND development.
4) For vaccine challenge studies, the investigators will use well-characterized Mtb strains and the BCG SSI vaccine as a comparison against the most promising adjuvant:Mtb immunogen candidate.

Grant Number: 75N93022C00041-P00001-9999-1
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: WARWICK BRITTON