Getting at the crux of the antigen

Novartis AG researchers have used structure-based antigen design to rationally optimize vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus¹ and Group BStreptococcus.² Although the strategy itself is not new, thework serves as proof of conceptfor its application to the development of vaccines designed to be more effective than vaccines that use native viral or bacterial macromolecules to elicit immune responses.

"At Novartis, we use structural vaccinology to design and optimize all new antigens for our vaccine programs, with RSV and GBS being two examples of this technology at work," said PhilipDormitzer, head of the viral advanced programs team and senior project leader of viral vaccine research at Novartis and a coauthor of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) paper. "We have several products across the phases of development."...