Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Scientists at the University at Buffalo are working on a potential new vaccine to combat bird flu. They say it may be easier to produce than egg-based vaccines.
"Our lab is working on a kind of nanoparticle technology that allows protein pieces that you would want to include into a vaccine to be basically lock together onto the nanoparticle, very easily," says UB Professor Jonathan Lovell. When they heard about bird flu variant that's kind of going through the US dairy system, Lovell says they looked at that particular variant or clade of the virus, and using those proteins, we were able to show that we could put two virus surface proteins on the surface of our particles, and they worked very well for a vaccine.
Lovell says the vaccine is what’s known as a recombinant protein vaccine. Unlike currently approved vaccines, which use live or dead versions of H5N1, it relies on bits of genetic material (H5 and N1) from the virus to stimulate immune response. “Because our vaccine does not require the use of eggs in the manufacturing process — as many influenza vaccines do — it is potentially a faster and more efficient way to protect humans and animals from deadly strains of bird flu,” Lovell says.
Lovell notes this is in the early stages. "This was just a very early proof of principle experiment, so we haven't gone into actual livestock testing yet or human testing yet. This is just a our first proof of principle experiment in mice only, and we're currently excited to extend our testing and bring it forward to the next steps of testing," Lovell explains.
Lovell says he's trying to form collaborators who are able to do poultry testing to see if this would actually work well in poultry, or potentially other livestock species, such as cattle which are impacted by the virus. "I think it's a long process for this type of biomedical research, so we're just entering the initial phases. However, hopefully if we can get some promising results," says Lovell.
The research team plans additional work on the vaccine candidate, including testing different doses, schedules and conditions.