“The research results were informative and thought provoking. We all left feeling optimistic about the potential of the research.”
We believe ongoing investment in research is vital if we’re to beat meningitis and it remains a central part of our current and future strategy.
Research has always been an important strand of our work. Since the charity started in the early 1980s, we have funded more than £12.7 million in research and we continue to invest.
Research though can sometimes feel a bit remote from people’s day-to-day experience, so we were delighted recently when a group of staff and funders were invited along to University College London (UCL)’s Department of Respiratory Medicine to hear directly from those involved in research about a project we have funded.
Professor Jeremy Brown and Professor Brendan Wren, have been leading on the three-year pneumococcal meningitis vaccine project called “Developing a multivalent streptococcus pneumoniae recombinant glycoconjugate vaccine for preventing meningitis.”
Developed new technique
In a nutshell, the research team has developed a new technique (called Protein Glycan Coupling Technology) that uses bacterial enzymes to combine pneumococcal capsules and proteins. This process has the potential to produce cheaper vaccines that protect against more strains of pneumococcal bacteria.
There are over 95 different strains (serotypes) of pneumococcal bacteria and each one has a different sugary coat called the capsule. Existing vaccines are based on some of these capsule sugars and prevent disease caused by some, but not all, pneumococcal strains. Most strains of the pneumococcus have the potential to cause disease and strains not covered by existing vaccines are becoming more common in the community.
There is therefore an urgent need for cheaper and more effective vaccines that will protect against all pneumococcal strains.
Life-threatening type of bacterial meningitis
Pneumococcal meningitis is a life-threatening type of bacterial meningitis. Even with antibiotic treatment, the outcome of pneumococcal meningitis is often poor – about 10-15% of cases result in death, whilst 25% of those who survive can be left with severe and disabling after effects, such as acquired brain injury, hearing loss and epilepsy. Prevention of disease through vaccination is the most effective way of saving lives.
Both professors did a great job of rendering their work accessible for our supporters who were part of the visit, including Nigel Tait, Caroline and Angus Gardner, Michael and Laura Mittleman, Ben Williams and his daughter Jess, and Amy Heath from our Brighter Futures legal partner, Stewarts.
Following the visit our chief executive, Dr Tom Nutt, commented: “The research results were informative and thought provoking. The results presented a different mode of production and significant reduction in the cost of producing a pneumococcal vaccine, which may reduce pneumococcal meningitis infections worldwide in the future.
Optimistic about the potential
“We all left feeling optimistic about the potential of the research, not least in massively reducing the cost of producing pneumococcal vaccines by shifting from chemical to biological modes of production. We need to keep a close eye on what happens next with this research.”
And it seemed like the professors enjoyed the visit and welcomed the opportunity to explain their research findings too.
Professor Brendan Wren told us: “It was great to be able to present our research to such an important group of people.
“Through Meningitis Now funding we have made significant steps towards prototype Strep pneumoniae serotype 1 vaccines, that in the longer term may reduce the leading bacterial cause of meningitis worldwide.”
And Professor Jeremy Brown added: “It was nice to host you all; you asked good questions.
“Your funding has allowed us to investigate why Streptococcus pneumoniae can cause devastating infections such as meningitis, and to develop a novel effective vaccine based on bacterial proteins that could prevent infections in the future.”
Read more about our research projects and strategy.
Donate to support our ongoing research programme.
