The ADITEC project team wishes all partners, collaborators and those who are interested in our work, a very Happy New year! In 2014 we will continue developing advanced immunization technologies in order to improve health for humanity. We count on your support.

The high impact project Advanced Immunization Technologies (ADITEC) started as an ambitious €30 million EU project to boost vaccine research. During the 5 year term of the project, the goal is to develop novel immunization technologies for the next generation of human vaccines. In the second year of its existence, again a lot has been achieved in developing immunization technologies, animal models and human immunology. Read more on our website

ADITEC aims to produce new knowledge for the next generation of new human vaccines. This goal requires a multidisciplinary approach where diverse and complementary scientific disciplines and technologies converge. Besides the interaction between the current 42 full project members, ADITEC introduced the option to become an affiliated project member: organisations whill have full access to ADITEC’s dissemination activities, training programs, impact sharing activities and opportunities for commissioned research undertaken by ADITEC members.
ADITEC is pleased to announce 4 new affiliated members: Chalmers University of Technology (Gothenburg, Sweden), Viscogel AB (Solna, Sweden), Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland) and Eurocine Vaccines AB (Solna, Sweden). Read more about the Affiliated Members

As part of the ADITEC project, WHO coordinated the completion of a white paper on Vaccine Research and Development: State of the Art of Generic Vaccine/Vaccination Technologies. The reason for writing this document was that currently, many vaccine technologies are in development that could facilitate improved safety, effectiveness and delivery, but they may not result in a final product that would be easy to implement nor be affordable to the populations that need them.  Read the white paper

In every newsletter one of ADITEC’s research partners will be highlighted. In this edition you will meet the Institute for Biomedical Aging (IBA). IBA was founded in 1992 as an institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and joined the University of Innsbruck in 2012.Worldwide, the segment of the population aged 60 or over is increasing rapidly. In the year 2006, in Austria, more than one-fifth of our population has been over 60 years of age. In 2030 this segment will amount to one third. These senior citizens will place an enormous personal and socioeconomic burden on their families and on our society unless we act quickly to develop better prevention and treatment programs for many of the physical and mental ailments associated with old age. The goal of biomedical research on aging is to help people grow old with dignity and in good health. Read more about the Insitute for Biomedical Aging

On April 15 ADITEC launched a call for proposals which will provide SMEs and public health organizations interested in vaccine R&D free access to consortium 'in house' vaccinology expertise and technologies valued up to € 100,000 per proposal. There is a maximum of € 1.2 million available for this activity over the term of the ADITEC project, € 100,000 budget limit for each application. Six applications were received.
Members of the External Advisory Board and the Steering Committee closely reviewed the applications and decided that final receipients included Vaxil BioTherapeutics Ltd in Israel, Cilian AG in Germany and Sigmoid Pharma Ltd. in Ireland.
ADITEC plans to launch a similar call in 2014.

ADITEC is very proud to announce that Dr. Rino Rappuoli, coordinator of the ADITEC project, is ranked number 10 in the list of top influencers in Synthetic Biology.
Business events organizer Terapinn recently commissioned a global wide survey of those who work within the synthetic biology space to gauge just who is making waves and significantly influencing the development of this sector. Now with the votes collated, respondents placed Rino Rappuli No. 10 in that list.  Amongst the list are world renowned academics and industry synthetic biology leaders, so he is in great company.

Tom Ottenhoff, member of the ADITEC steering committee and globally leading in the development of TB biomarkers, received the ‘Eijkman’ Medal 2013 at the Dutch Royal Tropical Institute. The Eijkman Medal Foundation, named after Prof. Dr C. Eijkman, Nobel Prize winner in the area of vitamins, aims to advance scientific research in the area of tropical medicine. Tom Ottenhoff receives the medal because of his work in the area of leprosy and tuberculosis. “He contributed importantly in the knowledge of human immune responses against TB and leprosy via innovative basic research and applied clinical research”, according to the foundation. 

Dr Geneviève Inchauspé is appointed as EC expert in the External Advisory Board of ADITEC. She is head of the Department of Infectious Disease of Transgene. The other members of the Advisory Board have indicated interest and availability to continue their role for the next year of the project.

This is the list with recent publications related to the ADITEC project:

• CD4+ T Cell Priming as Biomarker to Study Immune Response to Preventive Vaccines
  Ciabattini A, Pettini E, Medaglini D.
  Front Immunol. 2013; 4: 421, Published online 2013 December 4. doi:  10.3389/fimmu.2013.00421, PMCID: PMC3850413
• Tuberculosis vaccine with high predicted population coverage and compatibility with modern diagnostics.
  Knudsen NP, Nørskov-Lauritsen S, Dolganov GM, Schoolnik GK, Lindenstrøm T, Andersen P, Agger EM, Aagaard C.
  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Jan 6. [Epub ahead of print]
• Recall Responses to Tetanus and Diphtheria Vaccination Are Frequently Insufficient in Elderly Persons
  Weinberger B, Schirmer M, Matteucci Gothe R, Siebert U, Fuchs D, Grubeck-Loebenstein B.
  PLoS One. 2013; 8(12): e82967. Published online 2013 December 11. doi:  10.1371/journal.pone.0082967
• Vaginal Immunization to Elicit Primary T-Cell Activation and Dissemination
  Pettini E, Prota G, Ciabattini A, Boianelli A, Fiorino F, Pozzi G, Vicino A, Medaglini D.
  December 05, 2013, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0080545
• Low Induction of Proinflammatory Cytokines Parallels Evolutionary Success of Modern Strains within the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing Genotype.
  Van Laarhoven A, Mandemakers JJ, Kleinnijenhuis J, Enaimi M, Lachmandas E, Joosten LA, Ottenhoff TH, Netea MG, van Soolingen D, van Crevel R.
  Infect Immun. 2013 Oct;81(10):3750-6. doi: 10.1128/IAI.00282-13. Epub 2013 Jul 29.
• Ex vivo analysis of human memory B lymphocytes specific for a and B influenza hemagglutinin by polychromatic flow-cytometry.
  Bardelli M, Alleri L, Angiolini F, Buricchi F, Tavarini S, Sammicheli C, Nuti S, Degl'innocenti E, Isnardi I, Fragapane E, Del Giudice G, Castellino F, Galli G.
  PLoS One. 2013 Aug 15;8(8):e70620. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0070620.
• Human circulating influenza-CD4+ ICOS1+IL-21+ T cells expand after vaccination, exert helper function, and predict antibody responses.
  Spensieri F, Borgogni E, Zedda L, Bardelli M, Buricchi F, Volpini G, Fragapane E, Tavarini S, Finco O, Rappuoli R, Del Giudice G, Galli G, Castellino F.
  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Aug 27;110(35):14330-5. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1311998110. Epub 2013 Aug 12.
• Introduction Seminars in Immunology
  Rappuoli R.
  Seminars in Immunology 25 (2013) 87– 88
• MicroRNA-223 controls susceptibility to tuberculosis by regulating lung neutrophil recruitment.
  Dorhoi A, Iannaccone M, Farinacci M, Faé KC, Schreiber J, Moura-Alves P, Nouailles G, Mollenkopf HJ, Oberbeck-Müller D, Jörg S, Heinemann E, Hahnke K, Löwe D, Del Nonno F, Goletti D, Capparelli R, Kaufmann SH.
  J Clin Invest. 2013 Oct 1. pii: 67604. doi: 10.1172/JCI67604. [Epub ahead of print]
• A Helicopter Perspective on TB Biomarkers: Pathway and Process Based Analysis of Gene Expression Data Provides New Insight into TB Pathogenesis
  Joosten SA, Fletcher HA, Ottenhoff TH.
  PLoS ONE 8(9): e73230. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0073230
• Immunologic correlates of protection and potential role for adjuvants to improve influenza vaccines in older adults
  McElhaney JE, Coler RN, Baldwin SL.
  Expert Rev Vaccines. 2013 Jul;12(7):759-66. doi: 10.1586/14760584.2013.811193.

Within and outside the ADITEC network several interesting meetings will take place in the coming months. For example:

• New Horizons for Vaccine Research and Innovation, March 12-13, Brussels (with several speakers from the ADITEC consortium).
• World Vaccine Congress US, March 24-26, Washington DC, USA
• Workshop: Human Challenge Trials in Vaccine Development: Scientific and Regulatory Issues, May 1-2 2014, Rockville, Maryland, USA
• World Vaccine Congress Asia, June 9-12, Singapore
• 9th International Conference on the Pathogenesis of Mycobacterial Infections, June 26-29 2014, Stockholm, Sweden