After receiving patent approval for a vaccine against the enteropathogenic Escherichia coli bacteria, the Butantan Institute is working on the development of an immunizing agent against the disease, capable of causing diarrhea that leads to death. Also known by the acronym EPEC, an enteropathogenic Escherichia coli is one of the six pathogenic categories of E. coli that cause intestinal disease. Transmitted via the fecal-oral route, that is, through the ingestion of contaminated water or food, it is common in developing countries due to the lack of basic sanitation, and annually kills up to 2 million children worldwide from diarrhea.
The issue sensitized Wilmar Dias da Silva’s professor and researcher at Butantan in 2005, during the Thematic Cooperation Program in the Matter of Science and Technology (Proáfrica), a technology transfer project for the creation of a serpentarium in Mozambique. Back in Brazil, he devised a recombinant vaccine to fight the disease. In this type of immunizing agent, which is obtained through genetic engineering, there is a combination of DNA or RNA from different organisms, the result of which is inserted into a vector – in this case, the chosen one was the BCG bacterium, which is widely used in research for its safety and immunogenic properties.
Who accepted the challenge of taking the project forward, under the supervision of Wilmar and researcher Roxane Piazza, from the Bacteriology Laboratory, among other scientists from the Butantan, was the then master’s student at the University of São Paulo (USP) Halyka Vasconcellos. “We inserted the genes of two proteins, BFPA, and intimin, which are responsible for the adhesion of EPEC in the intestine, inside the BCG. We then applied this modified BCG in mice, generating a positive immune response”, summarizes the researcher. The work was published in the renowned journal Vaccine, in 2012, but continued to be improved by Halyka throughout her doctorate and postdoctoral studies, until the patent registration was submitted and approved, in May this year, by the Brazilian Patent Office (BPTO).
“It was the realization of a dream, which I would not have realized without the contribution of numerous researchers from Butantan who helped me along this path”, says Halyka, who is now a university professor and directs two laboratories in Nova Friburgo (RJ). Besides her, Wilmar and Roxane, scientists Karina Scaramuzzi, Ivan Pereira Nascimento, Jorge da Costa Ferreira Junior, Cecilia Abe, and Andre Kipnis are also listed as inventors of the patent, due to their technical contribution. “We do not work interested in personal profit, but in the good that a vaccine will bring to society”, emphasizes Professor Wilmar.
The next stage of the research will be the realization of pre-clinical and clinical trials (phases 1, 2, and 3). “We still have a long way to go, but the approval of the patent will certainly facilitate the negotiation of this new technology”, celebrates the innovation manager at Butantan, Cristiano Gonçalves Pereira.
Source: Pfarma
