Vaccines are one of the most widely used inventions of medical science and have successfully reduced human sickness and mortality by providing protection against deadly pathogens. Adjuvants are substances co-administered with vaccines to enhance immune response. A deeper understanding of innate and adaptive immune pathways have led to new strategies for adjuvant design.These include activating host innate immunity to enhance immune priming while delaying or reducing immune suppressive responses to the vaccine.

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The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us of the ever present need for potent vaccines to protect human societies on the planet. There have been numerous calls to increase surveillance and preparedness levels to minimize the death and disruption that a pandemic brings upon us.New adjuvants are a critical part of the solution since they can boost responses of weaker antigens and/or allow for the development of vaccines with smaller doses of antigens to reduce the cost of mass vaccination.

 

An extraordinary effort by the global scientific community has led to the discovery and implementation of efficacious vaccines within a year of the emergence of COVID-19. Vaccines against SARS-Cov2 have been designed, manufactured, tested and are the focus of a global immunization effort.We are excited to join this effort by focusing our small molecule immune modulator platforms on new adjuvant design.