BIA UK BioScience Forum: Accelerating vaccine development

Recent advances in vaccine development in the UK were heard by interested delegates at the UK BioScience Forum in London last week, writes The Pharma Letter’s Sophie Flowers. Updates were given by academics from institutions across the country on vital research being carried out in seven key areas.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Tom Wilkinson, of the University of Southampton and an honorary consultant at University Hospitals Southampton, is co-lead of the Southampton chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) group and his research focuses on understanding the mechanisms which contribute to the vulnerability to and impact of respiratory infections in patients with chronic lung disease. His work uses human viral challenge studies as a key model for discovery and translation to aid the development of novel approaches to vaccination and targeted anti-viral therapy. Dr Wilkinson said there is a need for new therapies in COPD. His group is carrying out studies in Southampton in ‘real time’ with a large patient cohort of up to 4,000. He added: “The ultimate goal is to have a respiratory infection vaccine which could have a number of targets.” These could include cystic fibrosis, as well as asthma and COPD.