Richard Marconi, PhD, Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Virginia Commonwealth University, a recognized expert in the study of Lyme disease, has developed a unique Lyme disease chimeric recombinant vaccine that has a dual synergistic mechanism of protection.
Utilizing for the first time a specific region of OspA and addressing the variability of OspC, this vaccine provides a targeted and broad response. This unique combination of protective epitopes kills Borelli burgdorferi in feeding ticks, thus inhibiting their transmission to mammals. Spirochetes that do transmit from tick to mammals are then eliminated by anti-OspC antibody responses. Should any cross into the mammal it will be killed before it can cause disease.
Lyme disease is the most prevalent vector-borne disease in North America and Europe. Previously underreported, the CDC has now revised its estimates to 350,000 annual cases in the U.S. alone. The great majority of the Lyme disease cases still occur in the Eastern U.S., but due to climate change, it is rapidly spreading to the mid-western states. Symptoms are diffuse and there is no reliable diagnostic. The VCU-developed chimeric recombinant vaccine has the potential to provide an effective way to prevent this disease and the debilitating effects that occur when left untreated.
The technology
Clinical efficacy as demonstrated in the canine model*
Summary of study design and timeline – challenge experiment demonstrates efficacy of vaccine
Histopathological Evaluation Safety data from canine studies*
Results of safety studies conducted by Zoetis using Vanguard®crLyme in 620 healthy canines and reported in their Technical Bulletin December 2015, demonstrated a low incidence of post- vaccination adverse effects from the vaccine. The health events were as expected for vaccines that are a single engineered protein and contain minimal extraneous materials. The major event was swelling at the injection site (3.81% 47/1232 vaccinations)*.
