Pentamer Biologics LLC — Department of Agriculture STTR Phase I: 8.3

Description

Mastitis or inflammation of the udder is considered the most economically significant diseaseaffecting dairy cattle worldwide; costing the industry an estimated $2 billion a year. The bacteriumStaphylococcus aureus is a main cause of mastitis that can establish subclinical infection and resultin long term reductions in milk yield. Our innovation is a subunit vaccine that can be administeredto mucosal and cutaneous surfaces to induce S. aureus-specific immunity. This vaccine uses aplatform based on the enterotoxin cholera toxin (CT). CT is a well-established immunostimulatoryadjuvant that induces local and systemic immunity to block colonization and prevent disease. A2/Bfusions or chimeras of CT (CTA2/B) are non-toxic easily purified and safe and immunogenicafter intranasal delivery in cows. Our long term goal is to produce a cost-effective vaccine toeliminate S. aureus mastitis in dairy cows. We hypothesize that the CTA2/B vaccine platform canbe adapted to incorporate additional targeted S. aureus antigens and that this platform can bedelivered safely to the bovine udder to induce specific immunity. For this Phase I STTR wepropose feasibility studies to: 1) expand and enhance vaccine protective capacity by incorporatingtargeted S. aureus antigens and 2) assess vaccine safety immunogenicity and efficacy afterintramammary vaccination in cows. Studies will support technology transfer to Pentamer BiologicsLLC; a small business dedicated to vaccine development in collaboration with Boise StateUniversity. Studies also support the mission of USDA NIFA to advance agricultural research andthe priority area of Animal Production and Protection.