Prime effective immune responses
Adjuvants have been used for decades to help enhance the immune response to vaccine antigens.
Most of us understand the fundamentals of vaccines: introduce part of a pathogen to our immune system, in order to elicit a specific, lasting immune response that protects us from a future infection.
Adjuvants are vaccine ingredients that can help induce a strong immune response in certain formulations. Today, aluminum salts are the most widely used adjuvants, whilst scientists and vaccine manufacturers are continuously innovating to expand the repertoire of available adjuvant options.
Addressing the challenges of vaccine formulation
A short history of vaccine adjuvants
The story begins in 1920 with Gaston Ramon, a French veterinarian working on a new diphtheria vaccine. He made an accidental discovery: horses that developed ghastly abscesses at the injection site also had stronger immune responses.
This made him wonder: what else could be added to the vaccine to spur such a reaction?
In order to confirm his hypothesis, he used a combination of inactivated toxin, together with starch or breadcrumbs, to induce sterile abscesses at the injection site.
These experiments proved a success: animals administered vaccines that contained Ramon's concoctions produced significantly more antibodies compared to those who didn't. Thus, they were thought to be better protected against diphtheria - and unveiled the field of adjuvants!
Aluminium adjuvant discovery
This breakthrough forever changed vaccine development. Vaccines prepared in this way are known as alum-precipitated vaccines. However, they weren’t without pitfalls. Not only could they be highly heterogenous, but batch reproducibility was difficult and there was a lack of control of the amount of antigen.
Today, after many years of research, manufacturing of aluminium adjuvants has been optimised and advanced to the highest standards.
No wonder "alum" adjuvants continue to be the most widely used worldwide!
Saponin-based adjuvants
Finally, the isolation of a defined fraction of the saponin mixture enabled usage of saponins in human vaccines. In 1991, Dr. Charlotte Kensil et al. isolated and named QS-21 as a component of the triterpenoid quillaja saponins comprising different isomeric forms. QS-21 demonstrated an optimal balance of enhanced immunostimulatory properties and tolerable reactogenicity and has already been used in one commercialised vaccine. QS-21 is part of our offer and available for investigational use.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Some vaccine formulations do not result in optimal antigen delivery and presentation thereby reducing vaccine efficacy. Thus, a diverse repertoire of adjuvant systems is necessary to create better vaccines.
Nevertheless, ongoing research is working towards unravelling the precise mechanisms of action of adjuvant systems.
Notable examples include aluminium salts, oil emulsions, saponins or TLR agonists.
Not all vaccines contain adjuvants, such as those based on an inactivated virus or bacteria. Still, most modern and current vaccines feature adjuvant systems. Aluminium salts are found in almost all DTP vaccines, as well as Hep-A, HPV and anthrax vaccines.
Recent vaccines against challenging pathogens contain lipid delivery systems with specific TLR-agonist immunostimulators (MPLA.) For instance, AS01 is used in the vaccine against varicella zoster and AS04 in the HPV vaccine.
Explore our products
10 items available
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PHAD™ (MPLA Analogue)
Versatile and effective, PHAD acts as a TLR4 agonist to activate proinflammatory cytokines and antigen-specific effector cells. PHAD is the first synthetic analogue of monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA) derived...Speak with an expert about this exclusive productAdd to favourites Add product to favourites -
CAF01®
Part of our new generation of adjuvants, CAF01 is a liposomal adjuvant formulation that offers excellent long-term stability and drives both humoral and cellular immune responses.Speak with an expert about this exclusive productAdd to favourites Add product to favourites -
CAF09b®
A novel liposomal adjuvant used in cancer immunotherapy trials, CAF09b has the capacity to facilitate the production of CD8+ T-cells.Speak with an expert about this exclusive productAdd to favourites Add product to favourites -
Sustainable Squalene
Our sustainably produced Squalene is based on cutting-edge technology using synthetic biology to obtain squalene from a fermentation process.Speak with an expert about this exclusive productAdd to favourites Add product to favourites -
Adju-Phos™
Well-established as a common component in a variety of vaccines, Adju-Phos is an aluminium-based adjuvant that induces strong Th2 immune responses.Add to favourites Add product to favourites -
3D(6-acyl)-PHAD™
Immunostimulatory and highly purified, 3D(6-acyl)-PHAD activates TLR4 to induce proinflammatory cytokines and T-cells. 3D(6-acyl)-PHAD is a synthetically produced structural analogue of monophosphoryl...Speak with an expert about this exclusive productAdd to favourites Add product to favourites -
3D-PHAD™
Highly pure, safe, and chemically stable, 3D-PHAD stimulates the immune system through the activation of TLR4, leading to the production of proinflammatory cytokines, CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells. 3D-PHAD is...Speak with an expert about this exclusive productAdd to favourites Add product to favourites -
Alhydrogel™
One of the most widely used vaccine adjuvants, Alhydrogel is an aluminium-based adjuvant used in clinically-approved vaccines that can elicit effective Th2 immune responses.Add to favourites Add product to favourites -
QS 21
A powerful immunostimulatory saponin that acts as a potent vaccine adjuvant, QS 21 can stimulate both cell-mediated (Th1) and humoral (Th2) immune responsesSpeak with an expert about this exclusive productAdd to favourites Add product to favourites -
Quil-A™
A versatile immunostimulatory saponin that’s widely used as a potent veterinary adjuvant, Quil-A can work against both intra- and extra-cellular pathogens, stimulating innate and Th-mediated adaptive immune...Speak with an expert about this exclusive productAdd to favourites Add product to favourites
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