Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) happens when bacteria change and become resistant to standard antibiotics. The more we use antibiotics, the faster bacteria develop resistance, the less effective antibiotics become, and the more likely bacteria will become ‘superbugs’ (i.e., resistant bacteria that cause fast-spreading infections that don’t respond to antibiotics). It’s a dangerous, vicious cycle that puts us at risk. Thus, using antibiotics only when medically necessary is critical in delaying the development of resistant bacteria. AMR makes it harder and sometimes even impossible to treat infections caused by resistant bacteria. Because it doesn’t respond well to existing antibiotics, conditions can become life-threatening or fatal. By 2050, it’s estimated AMR could cause around 10 million deaths every year. Efforts to develop new generation antibiotics are ongoing, but success is limited, and new antibiotics will also be subject to the development of resistant bacteria over time. Vaccines can reduce the emergence and spread of AMR both directly and indirectly10,28. First, a vaccine against a given bacterial pathogen minimizes the prevalence of the resistant pathogen and antibiotic use. Vaccines targeting bacterial glycans are a proven strategy to develop anti-bacterial vaccines. Probably the best-documented example of this effect is the pneumococcal vaccine on AMR. Glycoconjugate vaccines that combine glycans and the carrier protein are an effective strategy to enhance the immunogenicity of bacterial glycans. Glycoconjugates are complex products that require complex analytical tools to characterize critical quality attributes. The presentation will describe various tools employed to characterize the bacterial glycoconjugate vaccines.
Speaker: Anish Chakkumkal, Janssen Vaccines & Prevention B.V.