New Funds to Boost British Efforts to Develop Chlamydia Vaccine

An infusion of new funding is expected to boost efforts by researchers in the United Kingdom to develop a vaccine to prevent Chlamydia infection.

Chlamydiae are small gram-negative obligate intracellular microorganisms that preferentially infect squamocolumnar epithelial cells. Chlamydia trachomatis infection, with nearly 200,000 new cases per year in the United Kingdom, is the most commonly reported bacterial sexually transmitted disease in the United States and a leading cause of infertility in women.

In a major effort to control the spread of chlamydial infection, the United Kingdom's Innovation and Knowledge Centre for Synthetic Biology (SynbiCITE; London, United Kingdom) has committed GBP 377,000 to aid in the development of a vaccine. The project will be conducted by Prokarium Ltd. (London, United Kingdom), a biotechnology company that develops transformational oral vaccines. Prokarium will add an additional 121,000 GBP to the research program.

The development effort will be shared by Prokarium and its collaborator, Dr. Robin Shattock, professor of mucosal infection and immunity at Imperial College London (United Kingdom). The plan is to complete the preclinical development of the Chlamydia vaccine in time for clinical trials in 2017.

Dr. Steve Chambers, CEO of SynbiCITE, said, "The new Prokarium vaccine was selected for funding because the need for a Chlamydia vaccine is significant and the potential for this approach both for Chlamydia and as a model for treating other infections in the medium-term is very encouraging.”

Dr. Steve Chatfield, chairman of Prokarium, said, “This SynbiCITE funding allows us to test a vaccine against the one of the world’s most serious sexually transmitted infections. Prokarium is now well set up to work with the best of the best in the vaccine arena.”

Related Links:
SynbiCITE
Prokarium Ltd.
Imperial College London