Harvard's ciVAX Vaccine Shows Promise Against Antibiotic-Resistant Infections and Sepsis
Scientists at Harvard's Wyss Institute and SEAS have developed a groundbreaking vaccine, ciVAX, to combat antibiotic-resistant infections and sepsis. This innovative approach, based on biomaterial scaffolds, has shown promising results in animal trials.
ciVAX vaccines combine two technologies: pathogen capture and biomaterial scaffolds. These enable the capture of immunogenic antigens from a wide range of pathogens and their integration into immune cell-recruiting biomaterial scaffolds. Injected or implanted under the skin, ciVAX vaccines reprogram the immune system to swiftly respond to pathogens.
In trials, ciVAX vaccines have demonstrated remarkable effectiveness. All vaccinated mice survived a lethal attack from an antibiotic-resistant E. coli strain, while only 9% of unvaccinated control animals did. In a pig model, ciVAX prevented sepsis in all vaccinated animals, while unvaccinated animals developed severe sepsis within 12 hours. Moreover, ciVAX provided cross-protection against different lethal E. coli strains using a ring vaccination protocol.
The ciVAX vaccine is being developed by Vaxess Technologies, based on research from the Wyss Institute. It is currently in clinical trials. If successful, ciVAX could significantly improve our ability to prevent and treat infectious diseases, including sepsis, which affects millions of people worldwide each year.
The ciVAX vaccine, developed by a multi-disciplinary team at Harvard, shows great promise in protecting against antibiotic-resistant infections and sepsis. With further testing and development by Vaxess Technologies, ciVAX could revolutionize our approach to infectious diseases and save countless lives.
