Stony Brook and Brookhaven researchers develop Lyme Disease vaccine

Researchers from Stony Brook and Brookhaven have completed research on a new vaccine for Lyme Disease.

Results of the study were reported in the Lancet, with more than 300 people tested showing a strong immunity response to the vaccine, as the solution was found to produce substantial antibodies against all targeted strands of borellia.

Borellia is the causative agent of Lyme disease in Europe and the United States.

In the article, “Safety and immunogenicity of a novel multivariant OspA vaccine against Lyme borreliosis in healthy adults: a double-blind, randomized, dose-escalation phase 1/2 trial”, principle investiagator P Noel Barrett from Baxter Biomedical Research Centre evaluated the safety of the vaccine.

A range of doses were given out to 300 people living in Austria and Germany, with participants receiving three primary immunizations and one booster immunization.

All doses and formulations induced considerable antibody titters against all species of Borrelia, with the vaccine demonstrating predominantly mild adverse reactions.

Furthermore, no-vaccine related serious events were recorded in the sample.

Dr Luft, a co-author on the paper, said: “The results of the clinical trial conducted by Baxter are promising because the vaccine generated a potent human immune reaction, covered the complete range of Borreliaactive in the entire Northern hemisphere, and produced no major side effects.

“We hope that a larger-scale, Phase 3 trial will demonstrate not only a strong immune response but true efficacy in a large population that illustrates protection against Lyme disease.”

Mr Luft explained that the main challenge for developing a Lyme Disease vaccine was to find a method that could be effective on all types of Borrelia.

A scaffold of the Borrelia outer surface protein was used to create a new protein entitled chimeras.

“After a series of experimentations and refinements, formulations consisting of these new OspA proteins were shown to protect against a broad spectrum of Lyme disease spirochetes,” he concluded.