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 a new affiliated member: Cilian AG (Germany). Cilian is a biotechnology company, which uses the singular abilities of Ciliates, a class of eukaryotic micro-organisms, for the industrial production of therapeutic proteins. Cilian has developed a marketable expression technology, brand named CIPEX, which has been optimized for the industrial production of complex recombinant drug proteins (biopharmaceuticals). The expression system is ready to be utilized for production of a variety of biological compounds, specifically monoclonal antibodies with improved effector functions as well as viral and protozoan vaccines. Read more about the Affiliated Members

Partners of the ADITEC consortium are presenting the third course on adjuvants and vaccine formulation.
Dates: 9-13 February 2015
Location: Vaccine Formulation Laboratory at University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Topics: Formulation and characterization of Aluminum salts, Water-in-Oil emulsions, Oil-in-Water emulsions, and Liposomes.
This 5-day course will combine background information with practical demonstrations and hands-on training. In small groups, participants will learn and practice different formulation techniques and a variety of standard assays for characterization and quality control of adjuvanted vaccines.
Read more about eligibility criteria and how to submit applications

ADITEC partner University of Geneva organises, together with Insitut Mérieux, organise the 14th Advanced Vaccinology Course (ADVAC) in Les Pensières, Veyrier du Lac (French Alps).

ADVAC is a two-week training programme for decision-makers, including academia, industry, governmental and non-governmental agencies, in all fields related to vaccines and vaccination, vaccine trials, new vaccines, vaccination strategies and policies, vaccine-specific issues (including hepatitis, meningitis, polio, measles, pneumococcal diseases, influenza, malaria, HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis, HPV, rotavirus, dengue & JE), ethical issues related to vaccine trials, financing of immunization policy, communication.

ADVAC has over 60 top-level international lecturers and working group supervisors, all experts in vaccinology, including several specialsts from Aditec's network. The 16th ADVAC course will take place from 11 to 22 May 2015 in Veyrier-du-Lac (Annecy, France). Application deadline: 15 November 2014. Read more on the ADVAC website.

Adjuvanted trivalent influenza vaccine: a randomised controlled trial to determine the kinetics of the functional genomic response in young children.
In the 2012 influenza season, ADITEC partners (University of Geneva, University of Oxford, Emory University Atlanta and Novartis) conducted a randomised controlled trial to assess the kinetics of the functional genomic response to adjuvanted trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) in comparison with standard seasonal TIV and correlated with immunophenotypical data. Two doses of vaccine were administered one month apart. There were questions over the feasibility of using the systems immunology approach to vaccine assessment in young children (14-24 months in this trial) since only small volumes of blood (6mls) could be obtained for the study. Read more on our website

Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) is a medical centre of excellence that provides clinical inpatient and outpatient care, modern education, and innovative basic, translational and clinical research, pursuing excellence in each of these areas. The Department of Infectious Diseases at LUMC has a longstanding tradition in trying to understand host responses to infection, and to unravel underlying mechanisms of protective and pathologic immunity. A particular focus is on mycobacterial infections such as leprosy and tuberculosis, but also related infectious diseases caused by intracellular pathogens, and include the design of more effective intervention strategies (vaccines, treatments, diagnostics). Read more about Leiden University Medical Center

On April 17 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 € 1.3 million available for this activity over the term of the ADITEC project, € 100,000 budget limit for each application. Five applications were received. Members of the External Advisory Board and the Steering Committee closely reviewed the applications and decided to fund the proposal submitted by BioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals in Mainz, Germany: Intramuscular RNA based Influenza vaccination – In Vivo efficacy testing against seasonal Influenza.

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

• 13-15 Oct. 2014, Brussels: World Vaccine Congress Europe
• 20-21 Nov. 2014, Brussels: Malaria Vaccine Development in Europe – preparing for the future
• 21-23 Jan. 2015, Paris: Meeting of the vaccinology club of the French Society of Immunology (founded by ADITEC member Claude Leclerc, and with an opening lecture by ADITEC's coordinator Rino Rappuoli
• 21-24 April 2015, Shanghai, Fourth Global Forum on TB Vaccines, co-organised by ADITEC's partner TBVI and affiliated member Aeras
• 5-10 June 2015: ESF-EMBO Symposium: Symbiomes: Systems Biology of Host-Microbiome Interactions, Polonia Castle Pultusk. ADITEC's coordinator Rinu Rappuoli is one of the keynote speakers.

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

• Big science for vaccine development.
  Rappuoli R, Medaglini D.
  Vaccine. 2014 Aug 20;32(37):4705-7. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.06.071. Epub 2014 Jun 25.
• Decoration of outer membrane vesicles with multiple antigens by using an autotransporter approach.
  Daleke-Schermerhorn MH, Felix T, Soprova Z, Ten Hagen-Jongman CM, Vikström D, Majlessi L, Beskers J, Follmann F, de Punder K, van der Wel NN, Baumgarten T, Pham TV, Piersma SR, Jiménez CR, van Ulsen P, de Gier JW, Leclerc C, Jong WS, Luirink J.
  Appl Environ Microbiol. 2014 Sep 15;80(18):5854-65. doi: 10.1128/AEM.01941-14. Epub 2014 Jul 18.
• Macrophage- and Neutrophil-Derived TNF-α Instructs Skin Langerhans Cells To Prime Antiviral Immune Responses.
  Epaulard O, Adam L, Poux C, Zurawski G, Salabert N, Rosenbaum P, Dereuddre-Bosquet N, Zurawski S, Flamar AL, Oh S, Romain G, Chapon C, Banchereau J, Lévy Y, Le Grand R, Martinon F.
  J Immunol. 2014 Sep 1;193(5):2416-26. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1303339. Epub 2014 Jul 23.
• Vaccines, new opportunities for a new society.
  Rappuoli R, Pizza M, Del Giudice G, De Gregorio E.
  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Aug 26;111(34):12288-93. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1402981111. Epub 2014 Aug 18.
• Conventional but not plasmacytoid dendritic cells foster the systemic virus-induced type I IFN response needed for efficient CD8 T cell priming.
  Hervas-Stubbs S, Riezu-Boj JI, Mancheño U, Rueda P, Lopez L, Alignani D, Rodríguez-García E, Thieblemont N, Leclerc C.
  J Immunol. 2014 Aug 1;193(3):1151-61. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1301440. Epub 2014 Jun 27.
• Antigen targeting to CD11b+ dendritic cells in association with TLR4/TRIF signaling promotes strong CD8+ T cell responses.
  Dadaglio G, Fayolle C, Zhang X, Ryffel B, Oberkampf M, Felix T, Hervas-Stubbs S, Osicka R, Sebo P, Ladant D, Leclerc C.
  J Immunol. 2014 Aug 15;193(4):1787-98. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1302974. Epub 2014 Jul 14.
• Optimization of mucosal responses after intramuscular immunization with integrase defective lentiviral vector.
  Rossi A, Michelini Z, Leone P, Borghi M, Blasi M, Bona R, Spada M, Grasso F, Gugliotta A, Klotman ME, Cara A, Negri D.
  PLoS One. 2014 Sep 11;9(9):e107377. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0107377. eCollection 2014.
• TRANSVAC workshop on standardisation and harmonisation of analytical platforms for HIV, TB and malaria vaccines: ‘How can big data help?’
  Céline Dutruel, Jelle Thole, Mark Geels, Hans-Joachim Mollenkopf, Tom Ottenhoff, Carlos A. Guzman, Helen A. Fletcher, Odile Leroy, Stefan H.E. Kaufmann
  DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.06.014
• Central Memory CD4+ T Cells Are Responsible for the Recombinant Bacillus Calmette-Guérin ΔureC::hly Vaccine's Superior Protection Against Tuberculosis.
  Vogelzang A, Perdomo C, Zedler U, Kuhlmann S, Hurwitz R, Gengenbacher M, Kaufmann SH.
  J Infect Dis. 2014 Jun 18. pii: jiu347. [Epub ahead of print]
• The humoral pattern recognition molecule PTX3 is a key component of innate immunity against urinary tract infection.
  Jaillon S, Moalli F, Ragnarsdottir B, Bonavita E, Puthia M, Riva F, Barbati E, Nebuloni M, Cvetko Krajinovic L, Markotic A, Valentino S, Doni A, Tartari S, Graziani G, Montanelli A, Delneste Y, Svanborg C, Garlanda C, Mantovani A.
  Immunity. 2014 Apr 17;40(4):621-32. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2014.02.015.
• The effect of vaginal immunization in women with HIVgp140 and HSP70 on HIV-1 replication, innate and T cell adaptive immunity
  David J. M. Lewis, Yufei Wang, Zhiming Huo, Raphaela Giemza, Kaboutar Babaahmady, Durdana Rahman, Robin J. Shattock, Mahavir Singh and Thomas Lehner
  Published ahead of print 9 July 2014, doi: 10.1128/JVI.01621-14 JVI.01621-14
• Innovative strategies to identify M. tuberculosis antigens
  and epitopes using genome-wide analyses
  Annemieke Geluk, Krista E. van Meijgaarden, Simone A. Joosten, Susanna Commandeur and Tom H. Ottenhoff
  Front. Immunol. | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2014.00256
• CD4 T cells with effector memory phenotype and function develop in the sterile environment of the fetus.
  Zhang X, Mozeleski B, Lemoine S, Dériaud E, Lim A, Zhivaki D, Azria E, Le Ray C, Roguet G, Launay O, Vanet A, Leclerc C, Lo-Man R.
  Sci Transl Med. 2014 May 28;6(238):238ra72. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3008748.
• Tuberculosis vaccines – rethinking the current paradigm
  Peter Andersen, Joshua S. Woodworth
  DOI: dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.it.2014.04.006
• Induction of CD8+ T-cell responses against subunit antigens by the novel cationic liposomal CAF09 adjuvant.
  Korsholm KS, Hansen J, Karlsen K, Filskov J, Mikkelsen M, Lindenstrøm T, Schmidt ST, Andersen P, Christensen D.
  Vaccine. 2014 May 28. pii: S0264-410X(14)00726-9. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.05.050. [Epub ahead of print]
• Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells Engagement by Influenza Vaccine as a Surrogate Strategy for Driving T-Helper Type 1 Responses in Human Neonatal Settings.
  Zhang X, Casartelli N, Lemoine S, Mozeleski B, Azria E, Le Ray C, Schwartz O, Launay O, Leclerc C, Lo-Man R.
  J Infect Dis. 2014 Mar 21. [Epub ahead of print]
• Progress in tuberculosis vaccine development and host-directed therapies-a state of the art review.
  Kaufmann SH, Lange C, Rao M, Balaji KN, Lotze M, Schito M, Zumla AI, Maeurer M.
  Lancet Respir Med. 2014 Apr;2(4):301-320. doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(14)70033-5. Epub 2014 Mar 24.
• The BCG replacement vaccine VPM1002: from drawing board to clinical trial.
  Kaufmann SH, Cotton MF, Eisele B, Gengenbacher M, Grode L, Hesseling AC, Walzl G.
  Expert Rev Vaccines. 2014 May;13(5):619-30. doi: 10.1586/14760584.2014.905746. Epub 2014 Apr 7.
• Tuberculosis vaccine development at a divide.
  Kaufmann SH.
  Curr Opin Pulm Med. 2014 May;20(3):294-300. doi: 10.1097/MCP.0000000000000041.
• Recent advances towards tuberculosis control: vaccines and biomarkers (Review).
  Weiner 3rd J, Kaufmann SHE Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, Germany.
  J Intern Med 2014; 275: 467–480.
• A single amino acid substitution in the hemagglutinin of H3N2 subtype influenza A viruses is associated with resistance to the long pentraxin PTX3 and enhanced virulence in mice.
  Job ER, Bottazzi B, Short KR, Deng YM, Mantovani A, Brooks AG, Reading PC.
  J Immunol. 2014 Jan 1;192(1):271-81. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1301814. Epub 2013 Dec 4.
• The interleukin-1 family: back to the future.
  Garlanda C, Dinarello CA, Mantovani A.
  Immunity. 2013 Dec 12;39(6):1003-18. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2013.11.010.
• The adjuvant MF59 induces ATP release from muscle that potentiates response to vaccination.
  Vono M, Taccone M, Caccin P, Gallotta M, Donvito G, Falzoni S, Palmieri E, Pallaoro M, Rappuoli R, Di Virgilio F, De Gregorio E, Montecucco C, Seubert A.
  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Dec 24;110(52):21095-100. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1319784110. Epub 2013 Dec 9.
• Challenges and responses in human vaccine development.
  Kaufmann SH, Juliana McElrath M, Lewis DJ, Del Giudice G.
  Curr Opin Immunol. 2014 Feb 18;28C:18-26. doi: 10.1016/j.coi.2014.01.009. [Epub ahead of print]
• Fusion of HCV Nonstructural Antigen to MHC Class II-associated Invariant Chain Enhances T-cell Responses Induced by Vectored Vaccines in Nonhuman Primates.
  Capone S, Naddeo M, D'Alise AM, Abbate A, Grazioli F, Del Gaudio A, Del Sorbo M, Esposito ML, Ammendola V, Perretta G, Taglioni A, Colloca S, Nicosia A, Cortese R, Folgori A.
  Mol Ther. 2014 Jan 30. doi: 10.1038/mt.2014.15. [Epub ahead of print]
• CXCL5-secreting pulmonary epithelial cells drive destructive neutrophilic inflammation in tuberculosis
  Geraldine Nouailles, Anca Dorhoi, Markus Koch, Jens Zerrahn, January Weiner, 3rd, Kellen C. Faé, Frida Arrey, Stefanie Kuhlmann, Silke Bandermann, Delia Loewe, Hans-Joachim Mollenkopf, Alexis Vogelzang, Catherine Meyer-Schwesinger, Hans-Willi Mittrücker, Gayle McEwen and Stefan H.E. Kaufmann
  J Clin Invest. doi:10.1172/JCI72030.
• Reverse translation in tuberculosis: neutrophils provide clues for understanding development of active disease
  Anca Dorhoi, Marco Iannaccone, Jeroen Maertzdorf, Geraldine Nouailles, January Weiner 3rd and Stefan H. E. Kaufmann
  Front. Immunol., 05 February 2014 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2014.00036
• 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 Nov 1;123(11):4836-48.