Kansas State University

Research Foundation
2005 Research Park Circle Suite 105
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66502-5020

 

785-532-5720
785-532-3920 fax
tech.transfer@k-state.edu

Vaccine Oil-in-Water Adjuvant

Reference Number: 12-14
Inventors: Jishu Shi, Loretta Pappan, Amy Beckley, and Qixin Zhong
Description:
Kansas State University researchers have developed an efficacious & very inexpensive new adjuvant for use in animal and human vaccines. By using a novel emulsified oil-in-water emulsion, this adjuvant presents numerous advantages over commonly used agents in terms of safety, cost, and effectiveness.
 
Using adjuvants in vaccines has many positive effects, such as increasing immune duration and reducing the dose of antigen needed in the vaccine, however, the use of current adjuvants have certain disadvantages such as:
  • injection-site reactions
  • conventional oil-in-water emulsions can lack biocompatibility causing safety concerns when injected intramuscularly

There is a need for an adjuvant free of these negative effects. This technology fills this need and provides further benefits. Target animal studies in pigs resulted in no injection-site reactions or biocompatibility issues. In addition, vaccines using this adjuvant generate an immune response comparable to, and sometimes better than, commonly used commercial adjuvants. Importantly, the emulsifier used is very inexpensive. These safety, effectiveness, and cost benefits give this invention great potential for use in animal and human vaccines.

Advantages:
  • Free of injection-site reactions and biocompatibility safety issues caused by other adjuvants
  • Produces an immune response comparable to or better than commonly used adjuvants
  • Very inexpensive to produce
Applications:
  • Adjuvants formulated with killed microbes or their subunit antigens in injections, microgel encapsulations, and other delivery approaches
  • Vaccines for human diseases and animal diseases such as swine influenza virus, mycoplasma, or other infectious diseases
Patent Status
  • Provisional patent application filed in March 2012.

Kansas State University Research Foundation seeks to have discussions with companies that are interested in licensing and/or research collaborations.

Interested parties should contact:

Kansas State University Institute for Commercialization (KSU-IC)
2005 Research Park Circle Manhattan, KS 66502
Tel: 785-532-3900 Fax: 785-532-3909
E-Mail: ic@k-state.edu