First steps taken for vaccine pills

A Cardiff research team has made a prototype oral flu vaccine, which unlike standard inoculations, does not need to be stored in a fridge or freezer. They hope it could pave the way for needle free inoculations for lots of different diseases that would be easier to use in developing countries. However, they said that more work needs to be done before it could be tested in people.

Traditional biological vaccines work by introducing a safe form of a virus or bacteria – or a harmless part of it, such as a peptide – to provoke an immune response in the body. This allows the body to recognise an illness such as flu, and deal with it more effectively should it ever encounter it for real. 

The difficulty with these biological vaccines is that they need to be frozen or refrigerated throughout transport to keep them stable, making them costly and difficult to deliver in countries without a reliable electrical supply.

For this new influenza-A vaccine, scientists at Cardiff University created man-made peptides that mimic those in real viruses. For this new influenza-A vaccine, scientists at Cardiff University created man-made peptides that mimic those in real viruses.

Unlike the biological peptides, these “mirror image” molecules cannot be digested, opening up the possibility for them to be administered in pill form.

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, found that the prototype trigged a strong immune system response in human cells when tested in a culture dish. It was as effective as the standard biological influenza peptide when tested in mice.

It was also shown to generate cells that kill the influenza virus when it was given orally to the mice.

Prof Andrew Sewell, from Cardiff University's school of medicine, who led the study, said: "There are many benefits to oral vaccines. Not only would they be great news for people who have a fear of needles but they can also?be much easier to store and transport, making them far more suitable for use in remote locations where current vaccine delivery systems?can be problematic."?

However, researchers acknowledged that much more research was needed to develop these synthetic vaccinations for the entire population and for other diseases. They added it was likely to take several years before such a vaccine could be tested in people.