Thermostable Inactivated Potent Yellow Fever Vaccine

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Summary Yellow Fever (YF) is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever disease caused by Yellow Fever virus (YFV) and an estimated 200,000 YF infections occur annually. Approximately 50% of infected individuals that develop a severe case of the disease will die. The infection is common in Africa and South America, and travelers and residents of those areas are at high risk of contracting the virus. A recent resurgence of YF in Africa and South America has exposed the YFV vaccine supply shortage that is insufficient to fight this major public health problem. In this project, Universal Stabilization Technologies (UST) in collaboration with University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) will apply UST’s novel approach for development of thermostable, inactivated, and potent vaccine against YF starting with wild-type YFV. The YFV will be stabilized at ambient temperatures (AT) using UST’s patented “Preservation by Vaporization” (PBV) technology and subsequently inactivated at AT using electron beam (EB) irradiation procedure to produce inactivated and potent vaccine against Yellow Fever. The EB inactivation has been found to inactivate through virus nucleic acid damage without affecting virus surface structures, thus preserving integrity of epitopes, or antigenic determinants recognized by the immune system, while preventing virus replication. The specific aims for this project are the following: • Aim 1: Produce thermostable, electron beam (EB) inactivated Yellow Fever vaccine candidate. • Aim.2. Perform long-term stability testing at low, medium, and high ambient temperatures: 4⁰C. 25⁰C. 37⁰C and short-term testing at 70⁰C. • Aim 3. Evaluate protective efficacy of the YFV vaccine candidate against viscerotropic YF in a hamster model. Our immediate goal is to prove feasibility of a safe, effective, low-cost thermostable vaccine against Yellow Fever virus. The technologies developed in this project could eventually provide a platform technology for quick development of safe, thermostable, and effective vaccines against other emerging diseases.