Adjuvant technology

• Adjuvant


  Any material that enhances the cellular and/or humoral immune response to an antigen
• Adjuvants


  • Elicit an earlier, more potent and longer-lasting, immunological reaction against co-administered antigen
  • Can facilitate administration of reduced quantities of antigen to achieve an adequate immunological response
• Many vaccine preparations on their own stimulate a poor host immunological response, particularly subunit vaccines
• Characteristics of an ideal adjuvant

  • Safety (no unacceptable local/systemic responses)
  • Elicit protective immunity even against weak immunogens
  • Non-pyrogenic
  • Chemically defined (facilitates consistent manufacture and QC testing)
  • Effective in infants/young children
  • Yield stable formulation with antigen
  • Biodegradable
  • Non-immunogenic itself
• Depot formation of antigen

  Slow release of the antigen from the site of injection, ensuring prolonged exposure to the immune system
• Enhanced antigen presentation


  Direct induction of immune stimulatory substances, most notably interleukins and other cytokines
• Gamma globulins


  A class of proteins in the blood, containing antibodies
• Gamma globulin injections


  • Provide temporary protection against certain infections
  • Provide passive immunity (unlike vaccines which stimulate the body's own immune system)
• Gamma globulin injections can help boost a patient's immune system temporarily, and may be used to treat immunological diseases
• Measles


  A contagious viral illness that usually causes a red, non-itchy rash over most of the body
• Measles


  • Other symptoms are similar to the common cold, such as high fever, sneezing, sore throat, coughing, swollen glands, red and irritated eyes, tiredness, and loss of appetite
  • Measles infection does not cause birth defects, but pregnant women have a greater chance of miscarrying, delivering prematurely, or delivering a stillborn baby
  • Babies, older adults, and people with impaired immune systems are at greater risk for complications such as ear infections, strep throat, pneumonia, or encephalitis
• Measles used to be common in children, but the measles vaccine has drastically reduced the number of cases