All of the consortium objectives have been achieved
1. Novel antigens have been identified, cloned , expressed and purified and shown to be protective against several of the ESKAPE pathogens in mouse studies (WP1).
2. State-of-the-art methodologies such as NMR, cryo-EM, molecular modelling, bioinformatics, etc. were successfully employed to study epitope-receptor interaction and identify new adjuvants (WP2).
3. High-throughput methodologies to synthesize and screen peptide libraries have been developed and implemented to identify novel vaccine antigens and adjuvants (WP3).
4. Vaccine advocacy initiatives have been planned and completed at the consortium level and individually by ESRs (WP4). Specifically, the consortium has run three social media information campaigns to mark World Immunisation Week and has produced a video for European Researchers’ Night 2020 (Working together to discover new vaccines, YouTube). ESRs are actively involved in informing the public about immunisation and the importance of vaccine research through multiple initiatives, such as school visits (Public High School of Ignacy Jan Paderewski - Wałbrzych, Poland), public talks (Soapbox Science Munich, Futuro Remoto Naples, European Researchers’ Night - Milan and Naples) and festivals (ESB Science Blast - Dublin, Ireland). The BactiVax Podcast series "Vaccine Facts with BactiVax" was an impactful public science podcast series.
5. Seven consortium-wide training activities were completed (WP5) during the reporting period, with all ESRs in attendance. Additionally, ESRs participated in numerous training sessions relevant to their projects and careers held locally in host institutions.
6. 55 peer-reviewed Gold Access Open publications have been published in scientific journals.
7. 4 Novel adjuvants have been licenced to Croda.
8. IP protection has been sought to enable their translation and commercialization of BactiVax; for example, a patent has been filed in UCD on P. aeruginosa vaccine candidates, plus other colleagues in the BactiVax network have successfully submitted another 3, making it for 4 in total.
The consortium was effectively managed by the Coordinator and six committees: Supervisory Board, Recruitment & Training, Communication & Public Engagement, Research Coordination, Exploitation, and ESR Committee. Reporting activities are also on track, with 26 deliverables submitted to the European Commission.
