Image of adjuvant

The expanding role of vaccines

Emerging opportunities

Vaccines have a long-established role in protecting against infectious diseases, and the global threat of antimicrobial resistance highlights their importance now more than ever.1,2 Opportunities are also continuing to emerge for the potential future use of vaccines in the field of non-infectious diseases too.3,4

The ongoing role of vaccines in combatting antimicrobial resistance

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the leading global health threats identified by the World Health Organization.1 Misuse and overuse of antimicrobials is one of the main drivers of AMR and contributes to the development of drug-resistant pathogens.1

Vaccines can play a pivotal role in the fight against AMR. By offering a proactive and targeted approach to prevention of infections, vaccines can reduce the need for and overreliance on antimicrobials. This can help to decrease the selection pressure for AMR, not only in the target pathogen but also in species that are part of the healthy microbiome, such as Staphylococcus and Escherichia coli bacteria.5

New opportunities for vaccines

Further developments in vaccinology are offering exciting new opportunities.3 The potential role of vaccination is expanding beyond infectious diseases to conditions including cancer, allergies and autoimmune disease.4

Image of icons and text to represent cancer, allergies and autoimmune disease

  • Icon of a cancer ribbon Vaccines for cancer

    The ability of vaccines to stimulate an immune response makes them a promising treatment for cancer, whereby a patients’ immune system can be trained to recognise and attack malignant cells.6 Cancer vaccines have been conceptualised and under investigation for decades, but the complex mechanisms by which cancer cells evade and suppress the immune system and the huge diversity in patient factors and cancer types present challenges to progress.6,7 Most cancer vaccines being investigated involve the delivery of tumour-specific antigens combined with an adjuvant, using peptide, RNA, DNA and viral vaccines.

  • Icon of an allergy molecule Vaccines for allergy

    Vaccination for allergic disease, also known as allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT), could provide individuals with long-term protection against allergens.8,9 AIT involves repeated administration of allergen extracts over several years and could confer protective immunity consisting of immunoglobulin G (IgG) ‘blocking antibodies’.8,9

  • Icon of DNA Vaccines for autoimmune disease

    Many antigen-specific vaccines have reached clinical trials for autoimmune diseases, including for type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.10 Novel therapeutic approaches aim to emulate natural mechanisms of immune tolerance by delivering autoantigens into antigen-presenting cells in lymphoid tissues.11

Key points: The expanding role of vaccines

  • The role of vaccines is expanding beyond protection against infectious disease4
  • By preventing infections and therefore reducing overreliance on antibiotics, vaccines decrease the selection pressure for AMR5
  • The role of vaccination may yet expand further to conditions including cancer, allergies and autoimmune diseases4

References

  1. World Health Organization. Antimicrobial resistance https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance (accessed March 2024).
  2. World Health Organization. Vaccines and immunization. https://www.who.int/health-topics/vaccines-and-immunization (accessed February 2024).
  3. World Health Organization. Immunization Agenda 2030. https://www.who.int/teams/immunization-vaccines-and-biologicals/strategies/ia2030 (accessed February 2024).
  4. PhRMA. Medicines in Development for Vaccines 2020 Report. https://phrma.org/-/media/Project/PhRMA/PhRMA-Org/PhRMA-Org/PDF/medicines-in-development-for-vaccines-2020.pdf (accessed February 2024).
  5. World Health Organization. Leveraging vaccines to reduce antibiotic use and prevent antimicrobial resistance: An action framework. https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/immunization/product-and-delivery-research/action-framework-final.pdf?sfvrsn=13c119f3_5&download=true (accessed February 2024).
  6. Janes ME et al. Cancer vaccines in the clinic. Bioeng Transl Med 2024;9:e10588.
  7. Lin MJ et al. Cancer vaccines: The next immunotherapy frontier. Nat Cancer 2022;3:911–926.
  8. Durham SR and Shamji MH. Allergen immunotherapy: Past, present and future. Nat Rev Immunol 2023;23:317–328.
  9. Dorofeeva Y et al. Past, present, and future of allergen immunotherapy vaccines. Allergy 2021;76:131–149.
  10. Serra P and Santamaria P. Antigen-specific therapeutic approaches for autoimmunity. Nat Biotechnol 2019;37:238–251.
  11. Krienke C et al. A noninflammatory mRNA vaccine for treatment of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Science 2021;371:145–153.

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July 2024 | NP-GB-ABX-WCNT-240009 (V1.0)