“VIB and UGent Lead Consortium in Securing €8M Grant to Develop Revolutionary mRNA Vaccines Against Antimicrobial Resistance: First Clinical Trials at UZ Gent in Collaboration with Center for Vaccinology”

2023-04-25 18:44:52

© IF

Gent –

VIB and UGent lead a European network that has secured a grant of more than 8 million euros for the development of a new vaccine technology against bacterial infections. The first clinical studies will be carried out at UZ Gent in collaboration with the Center for Vaccinology.

Fien LackiereBron: BELGIAN

Today at 6:44 PM

In a consortium called ‘Baxerna’, the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), UGent, UZ Gent and VUB, among others, will search for new antibacterial mRNA vaccines together with international research groups. For example, they want to develop a preventive remedy in the fight against antimicrobial resistance.

Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria or other microorganisms (viruses, fungi and parasites) no longer respond to antibiotics. The World Health Organization (WHO) listed antimicrobial resistance as one of the top 10 major threats to global public health, estimated to indirectly kill more than 1 million people worldwide each year.

The current generation of antibacterial vaccines is developed on the basis of a weakened or dead bacteria. “With Baxerna, we can finally look ahead to new ways to develop antibacterial vaccines,” says Professor Francis Impens. “We use artificial intelligence, among other things, to identify and analyze bacteria-specific antigenic proteins. Based on this, we can design an RNA molecule that can form the basis of a vaccine. This way we can train our immune system preventively against such infections.”