Improving and Characterising Influenza and COVID-19 vaccines

Abstract

The development of safe and effective vaccinations against infectious illnesses and certain cancers that cause substantial morbidity and death is a major advancement in medicine. Vaccination, as a preventative public health measure, has clearly led to better health outcomes for people all over the globe. It is believed that vaccinations have prevented six million deaths every year (1). The need of developing a strong vaccination plan for global immunisation has been reaffirmed in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Safe and effective vaccines can only be developed with persistent characterisation and stable formulations. In addition, efforts are made to find solutions to problems like preserving cold chains, which are essential for keeping vaccines at their peak potency and efficacy throughout storage and shipping. The first chapter provides a general introduction to vaccinations and their background, as well as a brief synopsis of the other chapters, each of which is dedicated to one of three goals. In Chapter 2, we go deeply and exhaustively into a variety of flu-related topics (viruses and vaccines). The thesis's three aims are discussed in the following chapters. The primary objective was to find a suitable replacement for Triton X-100, which is currently used as a splitting agent in the manufacturing of split-virus influenza vaccines but is considered a "substance of very high concern" by the European Commission due to the production of harmful metabolites upon its environmental release. In Chapter 3, we see the results of an experimental study introducing an alternative to Triton X-100 that shows promise for use in the manufacturing of inactivated influenza vaccines. The second goal of this research was to conduct the first-ever evaluation of the capacity of macrocycles to stabilise influenza virus (chapter 4). Despite macrocycles' widespread use in the pharmaceutical industry, the potential of these structures to improve influenza vaccine formulations has not been investigated until recently. The third goal of this study was to investigate the effects of the stabiliser sCX[4] on the thermal stability and aggregation properties of two different COVID-19 vaccine formulations (from Pfizer and AstraZeneca). This study set out to explain how sCX[4] affects the stability and aggregation behaviour of COVID-19 vaccine formulations. This thesis presents novel experimental approaches that may improve and speed up the process of creating vaccines against influenza and COVID-19. These results help advance scientific knowledge and provide crucial insight for the development of future influenza and COVID-19 vaccines, which will assist public health initiatives throughout the world.