Quantifying the oxidization of polysaccharides and optimizing dextran-bovine serum albumin glycation conditions for development of a new pneumococcal vaccine

Pneumonia remains the single leading cause of childhood death under age 5 worldwide. The price per dose of current vaccines is high and supply is limited due to a complex manufacturing process and low yield, significantly reducing its distribution in developing nations. A newly patented vacuo dry-glycation process promises much higher efficacy than the conjugation chemistry used currently, paving the way towards a much lower dosage cost. and its vaccine is a kind of polysaccharide-protein conjugate system. However, the process conditions required for activation of the polysaccharide by vacuo dry-glycation have not been optimized, which is linking with the properties such as molecular weight and oxidation ratio of activated polysaccharides and coupling ratio of conjugate products. This research addresses these deficiencies, enabling PnuVax Inc. to further the development of a more affordable vaccine that can be used in Canada and around the world to reduce childhood death due to pneumonia.

Faculty Supervisor:

Robin Hutchinson

Student:

Mingmin Zhang

Partner:

PnuVax Inc

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

Queen's University