Abstract

One major limitation of effective vaccine delivery is its dependency on a robust cold chain infrastructure. While Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) has been demonstrated to be an effective viral vaccine vector for diseases including Ebola, its −70 °C storage requirement is a significant limitation for accessing disadvantaged locations and populations. Previous work has shown thermal stabilization of viral vaccines with a combination of pullulan and trehalose (PT) dried films. To improve the thermal stability of VSV, we optimized PT formulation concentrations and components, as well as drying methodology with enhanced vacuum drying. When formulated in PT films, VSV can be stored for 32 weeks at 4 °C with less than 2 log PFU loss, at 25 °C with 2.5 log PFU loss, and at 37 °C with 3.1 log PFU loss. These results demonstrate a significant advancement in VSV thermal stabilization, decreasing the cold chain requirements for VSV vectored vaccines.

Details

Title
Improved thermal stabilization of VSV-vector with enhanced vacuum drying in pullulan and trehalose-based films
Author
Iwashkiw, Jeremy A. 1 ; Mohamud, Abdulhamid O. 1 ; Kazhdan, Natallia 2 ; Ameen, Aaisha 3 ; Beecher, Jody E. 3 ; Filipe, Carlos D. M. 4 ; Lichty, Brian D. 2 

 Elarex Inc., Burlington, Canada 
 McMaster University, Robert E. Fitzhenry Vector Laboratory, McMaster Immunology Research Centre, Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Hamilton, Canada (GRID:grid.25073.33) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8227) 
 Elarex Inc., Burlington, Canada (GRID:grid.25073.33) 
 Elarex Inc., Burlington, Canada (GRID:grid.25073.33); McMaster University, Department of Chemical Engineering, Hamilton, Canada (GRID:grid.25073.33) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 8227) 
Pages
18522
Publication year
2024
Publication date
2024
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3091023695
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2024. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.