$3 Million Funds Group B Streptococcus Vaccine Candidate

A company developing polysaccharide conjugate vaccines against serious bacterial threats announced today it received a grant award of up to $3 million for developing a Group B Streptococcus (GBS) vaccine.

The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases issued the grant to Omniose, whose research operations were established at BioGenerator Labs in St. Louis, MO. The company was previously known as VaxNewMo.

Timothy Cooke, CEO, commented in a press release on September 27, 2023, “GBS infections are an important health problem globally, and there is a broad consensus for a vaccine solution.”

Omniose aims to develop a GBS vaccine with the highest efficacy using a vastly simplified production process.

The Omniose platform uses synthetic biology with enzymatic rather than chemical methods to produce GBS polysaccharide conjugate vaccines.

The one-step enzymatic process occurs in a single re-engineered E. coli cell and retains 100% of sialic acid residues on the polysaccharide for each capsular polysaccharide conjugate.

Retention of sialic acid residues has been shown to be critical for eliciting optimal functional antibody responses towards certain GBS serotypes post-vaccination.

Conventional chemical methods are complex and lead to reduced levels of sialic acid residues through oxidation, which can have a negative impact on protection, says the company.

Group B Streptococcus is a leading cause of invasive bacterial infections in neonates and older adults in the U.S. It causes an estimated 90,000 infant deaths and 46,000 stillbirths worldwide, according to the U.S. CDC. There are currently no vaccines to prevent GBS.