Project description
Rapid development of Glycoconjugate vaccines against infections
Bacterial infections impose significant medical and socio-economic burdens, with the rise of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria necessitating new treatment approaches. Glycoconjugate vaccines (GV) play a critical role in combating these bacterial strains by connecting antigens to carriers, resulting in long-term immunity. The EU-funded ACINETWORK project is dedicated to developing a vaccine targeting Acinetobacter baumannii strains, known for causing severe infections. Currently, no vaccine exists against these strains. The project aims to leverage synthetic oligosaccharide antigens to create vaccines characterised by well-defined composition, higher purity, and enhanced safety profiles. This method is more rapid and cost-effective. Additionally, the project seeks to provide training to young experts in the design of these medical solutions.
Objective
Bacterial infections are a societal burden with profound medical and socio-economic impacts. Although antibiotics can be effective, the continuous emergence of bacteria with antimicrobial resistance calls for the introduction of novel therapeutics. In this regard, glycoconjugate vaccines (GV) hold a prominent role in the fight against AMR bacterial strains. They are based on the chemical conjugation of one or more pathogen-associated saccharide antigens to immunogenic carriers, leading to a long-term protective immunity. ACINETWORK will focus on the development of GV against severe and life-threatening infections caused by antimicrobial resistant Acinetobacter baumannii strains, which are a major cause of nosocomial diseases and for which no vaccine exists. ACINETWORK wants to overcome the limitations of currently licensed GV, due to highly heterogeneous composition and batch wise variability, by innovatively using structurally-defined synthetic oligosaccharide antigens to develop GV with well-defined composition, higher purity and better safety profiles. The manufacturing of such GV is also more rapid and cost-effective. Thus, this project will set synthesis and testing pipelines that will serve as the prototype for the development of GV against other bacteria. The ACINETWORK consortium comprises universities and SMEs with a unique complementary expertise, ranging from carbohydrate chemistry to nanotechnology, immunology and microbiology, which garantees the realization of the new GV. The goal of ACINETWORK is to also forge 10 young experts in the design of these novel medical solutions with an integrated training program, which will equip them with a large battery of scientific and transferable skills. The multidisciplinarity of the consortium ensures a fertile and stimulating environment in which these young researchers will acquire unique competencies in vaccine design, development and production, which will be central at putting Europe at the forefront of GV.
Fields of science
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologybacteriology
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugsvaccines
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugsantibiotics
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacydrug resistancemultidrug resistance
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacydrug resistanceantibiotic resistance
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-DN - HORIZON TMA MSCA Doctoral NetworksCoordinator
20122 Milano
Italy
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Participants (7)
50121 Florence
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80539 Munchen
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14476 Potsdam
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
20009 San Sebastian
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8000 Aarhus C
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75654 Paris
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28029 Madrid
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Partners (9)
00074 Nemi
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114 19 Stockholm
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
70122 Bari
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00144 Rome
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
48940 Leioa
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00185 Roma
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14195 Berlin
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28015 Madrid
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34090 Montpellier
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