GelSite polymer is a novel high molecular weight ionic polysaccharide developed by DelSite. With the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) novel polysaccharide technology, GelSite polymer may be chemically modified into a new end product that can be used as the vaccine antigen against Salmonella typhi, the bacterium that causes typhoid.
The combination of NIH’s technology with GelSite polymer could allow production of the vaccine antigen in a more efficient synthetic manner as compared to the current process involving bacteria fermentation and multiple purification steps. This could significantly increase the antigen production and make the final vaccine product more cost-effective and affordable.
There are 500,000 to 700,000 deaths attributed to typhoid fever annually. Antibiotic-resistant Salmonella typhi has been found in many parts of the world, limiting the effectiveness of antibiotics in treating typhoid fever, creating an urgent need for new vaccines.
Dr Yawei Ni, senior scientist at DelSite Biotechnologies, said: “We are excited at this unique opportunity for combining this technology from NIH with our GelSite polymer and its potential to significantly improve the vaccine production against typhoid fever, an infectious disease of significant public health impact.”