1. Impact of aluminum adjuvants on the stability of pneumococcal polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccines.
- Author
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Smith WJ, Thompson R, Egan PM, Zhang Y, Indrawati L, Skinner JM, Blue JT, and Winters MA
- Subjects
- Animals, Vaccines, Conjugate, Pneumococcal Vaccines, Serogroup, Adjuvants, Immunologic, Antibodies, Bacterial, Aluminum, Pneumococcal Infections prevention & control
- Abstract
Development of a vaccine drug product requires formulation optimization to ensure that the vaccine's effectiveness is preserved upon storage throughout the shelf-life of the product. Although aluminum adjuvants have been widely used in vaccine formulations to safely and effectively potentiate an immune response, careful attention must be directed towards ensuring that the type of aluminum adjuvant does not impact the stability of the antigenic composition. PCV15 is a polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccine comprising the pneumococcal polysaccharide (PnPs) serotypes (1, 3, 4, 5, 6A, 6B, 7F, 9V, 14, 18C, 19A, 19F, 22F, 23F and 33F), each individually conjugated to the protein carrier CRM197. PCV15 was formulated with either amorphous aluminum hydroxyphosphate sulfate adjuvant (AAHS) or aluminum phosphate adjuvant (AP) and examined for both stability and immunogenicity. Using a collection of methods to evaluate vaccine stability, it was discovered that certain PCV15 serotypes (e.g., 6A, 19A, 19F) formulated with AAHS resulted in a reduction of immunogenicity in vivo and a reduction in recoverable dose as tested by an in vitro potency assay. The same polysaccharide-protein conjugates formulated with AP were stable regarding all measures tested. Moreover, the reduction in potency of certain serotypes correlated with chemical degradation of the polysaccharide antigen caused by the aluminum adjuvant as measured by reducing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), High-Pressure Size Exclusion Chromatography coupled with UV detection (HPSEC-UV) and ELISA immunoassay. This study suggests a formulation, which includes AAHS, may negatively impact the stability of a pneumococcal polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccine that contains phosphodiester groups. This decrease in stability would likely result in a decrease in the "active" concentration of antigen dose, and herein, it is shown that such instability directly compromised vaccine immunogenicity in an animal model. The results presented in this study help to explain critical degradation mechanisms of pneumococcal polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccines., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: The authors report financial support was provided by Merck Sharp and Dohme LLC, a subsidiary of Merck & Co Inc. Rahway N.J. The authors report a relationship with Merck Sharp and Dohme LLC, a subsidiary of Merck & Co Inc. Rahway N.J. that includes: employment, equity or stocks, and travel reimbursement., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2023
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