Vaccine Reverse Vaccinology

About Vaccine Reverse Vaccinology

Reverse vaccinology uses genomic information to identify vaccine targets without culturing the organism. The approach was first applied by Rino Rappuoli at Chiron now GSK to develop the serogroup B meningococcal vaccine. Traditional approaches failed because meningococcus B polysaccharide is similar to human neural tissue, making it unsuitable as a vaccine target. Rappuolis team scanned the meningococcal genome for surface exposed proteins. They identified hundreds of candidate antigens and tested them systematically. This led to Bexsero, licensed in 2013, the first vaccine developed entirely through reverse vaccinology. The approach has since been applied to other pathogens including Streptococcus agalactiae group B strep and antibiotic resistant bacteria. Reverse vaccinology accelerated after next generation sequencing became available. The approach represents a paradigm shift from culture based to genomics based vaccine development.