mAbCo19
mAbCo19
is a therapeutic and prophylactic human monoclonal antibody candidate.
Under development by AchilleS Vaccines Srl Siena, in cooperation with Fondazione Toscana Life Sciences (TLS) and the laboratory of Dr. Rino Rappuoli, with manufacturing anticipated to occur in Italy.
The EU Malaria Fund has announced
on June 3, 2020 that it has approved to finance parts of the development of mAbCo19 .
mAbCo19
The project will develop and genetically optimize potent neutralizing human monoclonal antibodies against COVID-19 (nCoVmAbs) as an effective antiviral measure for prevention and therapy of the current and future pandemics. Cutting-edge technology will be used to selectively identify B cells that produce neutralizing antibodies from blood samples of convalescent individuals, who had been infected by COVID-19.
mAbCo19 is an AchilleS Vaccines Srl
development project performed with the support of a multidisciplinary consortium that brings together a unique group of Italian researchers with complementary, world class expertise. The consortium includes, but it is not limited to “L. Spallanzani Hospital” in Rome, a European pioneer centre in COVID-19 research and the “TLS Lab”, an initiative arranged at Toscana Life Sciences, the Tuscan Region biotech incubator, originally started by Dr. Rino Rappuoli with an ERC grant focused on developing human monoclonal antibodies against bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Dr. Rappuoli’s “TLS Lab” brings vast experience in rational engineering of monoclonal antibodies against infectious diseases as well as in the state-of-the-art assessment of their functional properties.
nCoVmAbs will be invaluable tools to combat the current COVID-19 pandemic. The human neutralizing monoclonal antibodies will be used both as prophylactic and/or therapeutic agents against COVID-19, therefore contributing to the tacking and eventually resolution of the pandemic. Furthermore, nCoVmAbs will allow to identify protective antigens and epitopes of the COVID-19 virus resulting in rational and targeted vaccine development.
Two covidX platform technologies entered clinical validation in Italy this week: COVID-eVax and mAbCo19
our insight of the week - March 4, 2021
Dr. Luigi Aurisicchio, CEO of Takis Srl, photo courtesy company
Amidst worries about a third COVID-19 wave and emerging coronavirus variants, there’s a lot of good news from Italy: 2 clinical trials have started on the same day.
On March 1, Takis and Rottapharm Biotech announced the start of the clinical trial of COVID-eVax, their jointly developed vaccine candidate. "The start of the clinical trials represents an important step in the development of DNA technology against COVID-19 but also for other diseases", says Luigi Aurisicchio, CEO and scientific director of Takis.
But that is not all, AchilleS Vaccines, that was granted financing in June by the EU Malaria Fund, together with Toscana Life Sciences (trial sponsor) and Cross Alliance (a CRO) is managing clinical trial sites on Monday for their monoclonal antibody, mAbCo19. “Within a bit more than six months we’ve been able, with the support of an outstanding team, to transform a patent into a product which is quite an unbelievable outcome”, says Riccardo Baccheschi, CEO and president of AchilleS Vaccines. “The aim is now reached; the product is there.”
Unlike other vaccines already on the market, COVID-eVax is based on DNA. When injected into the muscle the DNA fragment promotes the production of a specific portion of the “spike” protein – the one the coronavirus uses to attach to human cells. Those portions of the “spike” protein produced by human cells then stimulate a strong immune reaction against the virus. In the case of COVID-eVax, the efficiency of the process is increased by “electroporation”, light and short electrical stimuli that facilitate the passage of DNA into the cells. That’s why Takis calls it a “precision medicine vaccine” approach.
A Phase 1 and 2 trial that provides results on safety and immunogenicity has now started in three hospitals: San Gerardo in Monza, Istituto Lazzaro Spallanzani in Rome and Istituto Pascale in Naples. As Luigi Aurisicchio explains in a video call there will be four different cohorts of patients. Three of them will be vaccinated on a prime-boost modality meaning they will get two injections of 0,5 milligram, 1,0 milligram or 2 milligrams of DNA respectively. Since the WHO recommends exploring a vaccine that works with a single administration, the fourth cohort in the COVID-eVax trials will receive only one injection of 2 milligrams of DNA.
Dr. Rino Rappuoli, Chief Scientist of GSK Vaccines, photo courtesy GSK
Just a stone’s throw away in Siena, scientist Rino Rappuoli and his team found the perfect monoclonal antibody candidate. Normally, monoclonal antibodies are administered intravenously. The process can take hours. “Due to the particular need of COVID-19 pandemic, we wanted to produce an intramuscular product and avoid patient hospitalization for treatment purposes. A hospitalization which is necessary with products like those of Regeneron or Lilly’s” says Riccardo Baccheschi. MAbCo19 comes in a vial of 2,5ml that can be given to a patient in a single administration. What the optimal dosage might be the clinical trial will have to tell. It may be given in a low dosage which could significantly reduce costs.
MAbCo19 was administered to the first patient in Verona on Monday. In phase 1, 30 healthy volunteers will participate. Subsequent phases will include a few hundred patients with Covid-19.
Even though the first vaccines and treatments have already been approved, these and other new candidates are still needed.
Covid-eVax has several advantages over the currently approved vaccines. DNA can be produced cheaply and on a large scale. It does not require ultra-cold storage which makes it easily applicable also in regions with weak health infrastructure. It does not induce immunity against the viral vectors used by other vaccines. Above all, its flexibility allows the developers to adapt quickly against new variants of the coronavirus. “We are already testing vaccines against the variants from Great Britain, South Africa and Brazil”, Aurisicchio says. “In a timeframe of two weeks we can generate a new vaccine based on potential new variants that may emerge.” Takis has an algorithm that can predict which variant is probable to emerge over time.
Even when we have vaccines, treatments are still needed as well. The importance of the role monoclonal antibodies will play in the collective efforts to fight COVID-19 depends on several factors. First, the efficacy of the vaccines. Second, their availability – just recently, amidst reports of vaccine production delays Germany has ordered 200.000 doses of antibody treatments. Third: There will be people who cannot or do not want to be vaccinated. For those antibody treatments that come with a high safety profile may be a solution.
After all, mAbCo19 could prove to be more than a treatment. The candidate will be now tested for therapeutic use. However, it is also a candidate for prophylactic use. “At the moment this use is not yet being investigated”, Baccheschi says. “But it could be done soon.”
Both candidates might be instrumental for a long-term solution in the battle against the pandemic. Until then there are still some steps to go.
For Covid-eVax, phase 1/2 trial results are expected around summertime. Plans for a Phase 3 study are yet to be made concrete. A challenging task. Not only because it has to be seen how the pandemic evolves. Circumstances for Phase 3 studies have changed. “Now that many vaccines are available it may be unethical to have a placebo group”, Aurisicchio explains. Takis may have to work with a fewer number of patients and ask for a conditional approval by the EMA. Another option would be a “human challenge trial”, a trial involving the intentional exposure of the test subject. In the UK young volunteers are challenged with SARS-CoV-2 in a controlled environment for research purposes. Once the experimental conditions are established, the human challenge trial could also be a method to test the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. But Takis and Rottapharm Biotech are still weighing the options. “It’s too early to have a clear picture”, Aurisicchio says.
The mAbCo19 Phase I clinical trial will be paired with a phase II/III trial a month from now. “With this approach we aim to have the product registered by the end of Spring”, Baccheschi says.
March 4, 2021 by kENUP
AchilleS Vaccines completes industrial development of promising treatment against SARS-CoV-2
our insight of the week - January 25, 2021
photo courtesy AchilleS sRL
- Innovative monoclonal antibody developed by AchilleS can be administered intramuscularly, broadening access to COVID-19 treatment
- Industrial development of Monoclonal antibody completed today and will now be further tested in the clinic, possibly leading to an emergency market authorization this summer
- Potential game changer in treating COVID-19 was initially financed and supported by the EU Malaria Fund
On January 25, 2021, AchilleS Vaccines, a biotech company based in Siena (Italy), announced the successful industrial development of a novel monoclonal antibody (mAb) to treat COVID-19. The treatment, patented by Prof Rino Rappuoli’s MAD Lab and developed by AchilleS, could greatly improve access to COVID-19 treatment and has several advantages compared to conventional mAbs: it can be administered intramuscularly, avoiding the risks of hospitalization. Additionally, this mAb is highly potent and the low dosage treatment offers significant health and cost benefits.
The AchilleS antibody project ‘mAbCo19’ will now be further tested in the clinic, possibly leading to an emergency market authorization this summer. AchilleS is developing this new therapeutic in cooperation with Toscana Life Sciences (TLS) and several partners, such as ExcelGene, Menarini Biotech and IBI Lorenzini.
"This event, for a small company like ours, is really something to be proud of." says Riccardo Baccheschi, CEO of AchilleS. “By continuing to play our role as an enthusiastic contributor to this potentially market-shaping compound, we will further support and materially coordinate the TLS-sponsored clinical and regulatory processes, hopefully up to market licensing. We hope to actively contribute to the elimination of this pandemic in Europe and in the world and to the return to a normal life for all of us, our collaborators and our loved ones ".
Rino Rappuoli, Director of MAD Lab TLS and inventor of the mAb said: “We are very happy to see that our monoclonal continues to perform extremely well not only against the wild type virus but also against the emerging variants.”
In June 2020 AchilleS received a substantial investment from the EU Malaria Fund (EUMF) to develop vaccines for malaria, other infectious diseases, as well as for the ‘mAbCo19’ project. The EUMF is a public-private partnership providing a novel funding instrument to address market failures in infectious diseases with significant relevance to public health globally.
“The development of this treatment against COVID-19 is very timely and much needed.” says Holm Keller, Executive Chairman of kENUP Foundation. “It shows that small- and medium-sized companies play an important role in the fight against COVID-19 and Malaria. We are grateful for the important work of AchilleS, TLS and Menarini.”
kENUP's original press release can be found
here.
January 25, 2021 by kENUP
Momentum for monoclonal antibodies in the fight against Covid-19
our insight of the week - November 6, 2020
Riccardo Baccheschi, CEO, and Vito Di Cioccio, CTO of AchilleS Vaccines, photo courtesy company
In Europe, the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic was mainly focused on developing a vast number of vaccines through the use of different technologies. But now, with the cold months fast approaching and the second wave of infections hitting the continent, the hope that a vaccine would swiftly end this pandemic has faded. Then overnight, news of a treatment option with monoclonal antibodies, a solution that previously had been widely ignored in Europe, started to spread.
The surge in fame came from an unlikely source, and the world’s most prominent Covid-19 patient: U.S. President Donald Trump. He received an experimental treatment with Regeneron antibodies after he was hospitalized at the beginning of October. After his release, he credited his swift recovery to the antibody treatment. Since then, the attention on Regeneron antibodies and other U.S. monoclonal antibody projects has highly increased.
For Vito Di Cioccio, Chief Technology Officer of AchilleS Vaccines in Siena, the promise of monoclonal antibodies does not come as a surprise at all. He has been in charge of developing a monoclonal antibody project against Covid-19 for the past months leveraging on the exceptional discovery work done at the Monoclonal Antibody Discovery Laboratory (MAD Lab) guided by Prof Rino Rappuoli. Right now, it is one of the very few at an advanced phase of development in Europe and possibly the first to be experimented in humans. “A vaccine will surely be a long-term solution, but monoclonal antibodies could be a faster, more realistic and concrete solution for the problem”, Di Cioccio explains on video call from Siena.
Riccardo Baccheschi, CEO of AchilleS Vaccines, knows that delays and obstacles in vaccine development are very much the norm. “Monoclonal antibodies on the other hand are normally developing more smoothly”, he says. So far, this rings true for the mAbCo19 project.
The mAbCo19 project combines AchilleS’ product development expertise with the hyper-potent monoclonal antibodies that Prof. Rino Rappuoli from the MAD Lab in Siena patented last June. Since this collaboration started in July, Di Cioccio and Baccheschi have been busy connecting all the necessary parts needed for their monoclonal antibodies to eventually go rapidly from research to manufacturing and testing in clinical studies. To this end, besides MAD lab and AchilleS the consortium also includes ExcellGene, a Swiss biotech company, Menarini Biotech, an Italian biopharmaceutical company, and Instituto Biochimico Italiano G. Lorenzini, an Italian biopharmaceutical company as well.
AchilleS Laboratory, Siena, photo courtesy company
Because there is no time to waste, it is not about going step-by-step, but establishing multiple steps at once, as Di Cioccio explains. He is in daily contact with all parties involved to set up the Phase I and Phase II clinical trials, the regulatory activities as well as the process development and manufacturing activities at the same time. Making the right and quality decisions, at the right time is of essence. “We are coordinating all this in parallel so we would make the product available as soon as possible”, Di Cioccio says. “It’s a lot of work, but we are very proud that everything is going well so far.”
Right now, the project is still on track on its ambitious timeline despite all the different components that have to click into place. “We aim to start the Phase I clinical trial in December of this year”, says Di Cioccio. Moreover, the plan is to begin the Phase II trial partially overlapping with the first one, so they both can be completed by February 2021. If all of this goes according to plan with promising results, AchilleS aims to have the first antibody-based treatment ready for commercial use by end of March 2021 (through an emergency procedure).
Right now, Baccheschi and Di Cioccio are waiting for the first results from the U.S. clinical trials of similar antibody projects. If they are as promising as expected, there is even more reason for AchilleS to be optimistic about the results of mAbCo19. In his MAD Lab, Prof. Rappuoli put a lot of focus on finding the most potent antibody. From what they know so far, Di Cioccio explains, it could turn out to be a lot more potent than those used by U.S. colleagues “The antibody from Regeneron is given to the patient in the range of grams. Our antibody is expected to work in the range of milligrams”, Di Cioccio says. That would have significant impact on the number and the cost of doses they will be able to produce and distribute.
Another important distinction from other treatment options is linked to hospitalization – a factor that became quite important in the fight against Covid-19. Hospitalization rates are closely monitored in all of Europe to avoid an overburdening of the hospital system as happened in some countries like Italy at the beginning of the pandemic. That is why, for Baccheschi it was very important to try and make the monoclonal antibody treatment available without hospitalization, where those kinds of treatments are usually injected intravenously. The mAbCo19 will be available for intramuscular injection, which means patients would be able to simply go to their general practitioner to get the treatment as soon as early symptoms will emerge, to hopefully avoid hospitalization altogether.
Even if at some point next year, a vaccine will be available, monoclonal antibodies could still serve an important purpose, Baccheschi says. Besides treating patients who didn’t get a vaccine yet, monoclonal antibodies could also prove to be prophylactic. The U.S. studies are already looking at this approach, and as soon as the therapeutic use has been proven effective, AchilleS is planning on doing the same. “We believe monoclonal antibodies against Covid-19 are here to last”, Baccheschi says.
November 6, 2020 by kENUP
Modified Outer Membrane Vesicles (mOMVs): a vaccine platform explained
Our insight of the week - July 17, 2020
Riccardo Baccheschi, photo courtesy AchilleS Vaccines sRL
There are many factors that affect and complicate the development of a new vaccine.
What Riccardo Baccheschi, CEO of AchilleS Vaccines, and his team are working on could make the process a lot faster in the future: the modified outer membrane vesicles (mOMVs) technology platform. mOMVs function is an ideal delivery platform for bacterial vaccines as well as against viral antigens like Covid-19, carrying the antigens and helping them to trigger the intended immune system reaction.
The vesicles can be imagined as tailor-made bubbles that originate from the bacterial surface, Baccheschi explains on a video call from AchilleS’ offices in Siena. In their growth phase, gram negative bacteria naturally release membrane vesicles which match the composition of the bacterial outer surface. That is the pathogen part which is primarily exposed to the immune system. “The OMV helps the antigens to be recognized by the immune system”, says Baccheschi. “That exposure leads to an effective response of the immune system, that is very important for a vaccination’s rapid and durable protection.” Ultimately the mOMV, depending on the related genetical engineering, can either expose natural bacterial antigen or heterologous antigens from non-bacterial pathogens.
AchilleS facility, Siena, photo courtesy AchilleS Vaccines sRL
The trick is to “instruct” the bacteria to produce the “right vesicles” in an industrially significant amount. Scientists have taken advantage of this natural process to artificially create mOMVs, by inducing bacteria to hyperproduce OMVs. “When done right, the outcome is the closest thing to nature”, says Baccheschi. “You might end up with an immunization very close to the natural process of someone who got infected by the live bacteria.”
The idea behind OMVs is not new, but since the discovery, a lot has changed. When their potential use was first discovered, the platform they provided was quite rigid and could only be used in very limited cases. In the beginning, mOMVs were chemically extracted resulting in a significant alteration of the antigenicity. With more recent technological evolutions that emerged around six years ago, mOMVs were able to be better genetically modified and purified. Today, the mOMVs technology platform might be considered one of the most promising platforms for vaccine developments, says Baccheschi, because they became a lot more flexible and sustainable. mOMVs are a potential platform for a multitude of purposes, for example for other viruses like Ebola or parasites like Malaria, but also in the prevention of antimicrobial resistance or the treatment of cancer.
AchilleS laboratory building, Siena, photo courtesy AchilleS Vaccines sRL
Besides its resemblance to a natural immune response and its versatility, mOMVs will also be very cost- and time-efficient, says Baccheschi. Most of bacterial vaccines today, for example, require 15+ manufacturing steps, while with mOMVs this could be reduced to four or five, he explains. “This means only a third of the complexity and drastic reduction of production time and costs.”
Right now, AchilleS Vaccines is working together with Dr Rino Rappuoli in Siena on a monoclonal antibody project, mAbCo19, as a potential way to fight Covid-19. The next step could be, as Baccheschi explains, to figure out which antigens could be the best candidates to be used with the mOMV technology. Early discoveries suggest that a SARS vaccine, a virus which is quite similar to Covid-19, could be developed using mOMVs, says Baccheschi. “There are many indications that it can work with Covid as well.”
July 17, 2020 by kENUP
“Antibodies provide the quickest pathway to beat the virus”
mAbCo19
- our insight of the week
Dr. Rino Rappuoli, private photo
While scientists all over the world are looking for treatments and vaccines against Covid-19, one natural process has already managed to defeat the virus: human antibodies. Over one million patients worldwide have now recovered from Covid-19. Their immune system fought the virus off with their antibodies eventually neutralizing the pathogen. Italian scientist Rino Rappuoli wants to turn that natural immune response into an effective treatment method.
Rappuoli’s goal is to isolate the cells that produce the strongest antibodies from the blood of recovered patients and eventually manufacture them on a large scale. This way, the antibodies could be used both as a treatment for people fighting Covid-19 and to prevent infection in the first place. “It is the fastest and safest chance we have right now to fight the virus”, says Rappuoli on the phone from his home in Siena, Italy. “Because we know the antibodies work – we know that from the people who recovered.”
The immune system memorizes the antibodies that it produces in so-called memory B cells. Rappuoli and his team have isolated the cells that successfully produce the antibodies which fought off the virus. This was done by analyzing blood samples that were donated by seven recovered patients from the Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome.
The paper “Identification of Neutralizing Human Monoclonal Antibodies from Italian Covid-19 Convalescent Patients” released
in bioRxiv on May 8, 2020 by Rappuoli and his team shows that analyzing and isolating those cells that produce potent antibodies is in fact possible and in a short amount of time.
In less than two months, Rappuoli and his team have isolated more than 1,100 memory B cells out of the donations. 74 of these cells were able to produce antibodies that recognized the virus and slowed down its growth. More critically, 17 of these identified cells eliminated the virus growth completely. These are the ones the team was specifically looking for. Because they are so rare, a very specific and sophisticated technology was used to be able to identify these cells in the shortest amount of time possible.
This fast discovery was not coincidental. A year ago Rappuoli and a team of first two, now ten scientists started working on monoclonal antibodies in their lab in Siena, the Monoclonal Antibody Discovery (MAD) Lab. This research which focused on treatment against antibiotic-resistant bacteria was supported by the Fondazione Toscana Life Sciences together with a grant from the European Research Council (ERC). Then the novel coronavirus started to spread across the globe. With the technology and methods they had just developed, Rappuoli was immediately able to shift their research focus to analyze the antibodies from Covid-19 patients. "That’s why we were able to do everything in such a short amount of time", Rappuoli says. “Two months ago, that seemed impossible.”
Rappuoli who, apart from his work in the MAD Lab, is also the chief scientist of GSK Vaccines, is renowned for his work in the field of vaccinology. Now, at 67, he is used to dealing with emerging viruses: SARS, ZIKA or MERS. They all have one thing in common, Rappuoli says: “the world is never prepared.” But while he is certainly familiar with serious epidemics, the sheer scale and urgency of this global pandemic has put extraordinary strain on his team. “The pressure is enormous”, says Rappuoli. Right now, the days in the lab are very long, with 15 to 20 hours daily becoming the norm. “But doing a job that I know can be useful and save lives is extremely motivating. It is pushing me to work hard.”
And time is crucial in fighting the virus. Monoclonal antibodies could provide short-term protection, while a vaccine will help eliminate the novel coronavirus in the long term. Antibodies can be manufactured a lot faster than vaccines, says Rappuoli. There are already more than 50 antibody products licensed to treat other diseases like cancer or autoimmune disorders. Additionally, the manufacturing infrastructure to handle the production of such a treatment is already in place, says Rappuoli, with manufacturing capacity in Japan, China, the US, Switzerland, the UK and other places in Europe.
While monoclonal antibodies are not a replacement for vaccines which provide long-term protection, they could prevent an infection for around five or six months. And the protection through antibodies would be immediate, just one hour after injection, as opposed to vaccination where it often takes a month for the immune system to react, says Rappuoli. This is an important factor, especially for health care workers on the front line or vulnerable groups.
“Right now, we have several cells in the lab that could be the perfect candidate”, says Rappuoli. While the analysis of new blood samples remains ongoing in search of even more potent antibodies, the next steps towards the first phase of a clinical trial are already in motion. This treatment would usually take 18 months to be approved, but now with time pressing, they are aiming to reduce this process to just six. “There are no quick solutions”, Rappuoli says. “But from experience we know which risks to take and what corners we cannot cut.”
May 8, 2020 by kENUP Foundation
Biography Rino Rappuoli
Press release by the European Patent Office
The father of modern-day vaccinations: Rino Rappuoli receives European Inventor Award 2017 for Lifetime Achievement
Venice/Munich, 15 June 2017 - Infectious diseases such as diphtheria, bacterial meningitis and whooping cough have essentially been eradicated in the developed world, thanks to a new generation of vaccines invented by Rino Rappuoli (65). Over the course of a research career spanning more than 40 years, the Italian microbiologist from the town of Siena has pioneered numerous life-saving immunisations and advanced laboratory techniques for their manufacture. His patented inventions are administered to millions worldwide in routine vaccination programmes. For this accomplishment, the European Patent Office (EPO) honoured Rappuoli with the 2017 European Inventor Award in the "Lifetime Achievement" category, one of five award categories, at a ceremony held today in Venice.
"Rino Rappuoli's innovative vaccinations and techniques have made the world a safer place," said EPO President Benoît Battistelli. "His genomics-based vaccines have saved millions of lives around the world. They have vanquished several diseases and created a new school of vaccine design."
The award ceremony at the Arsenale di Venezia was attended by some 600 guests from the areas of politics, business, intellectual property and science, and opened by the EPO President together with Carlo Calenda, Italy's Minister of Economic Development.
The award, now in its 12th year, is presented annually by the EPO to distinguish outstanding inventors from Europe and around the world who have made an exceptional contribution to social development, technological progress and economic growth. The winners were chosen by an independent international jury from a pool of more than 450 individuals and teams of inventors put forward for this year's award.
A new way to engineer immunisations
In the 1990s Rappuoli and his team completely changed the way vaccines were developed. Before his inventions, vaccine design had followed a blueprint established by French microbiologist Louis Pasteur in the 1880s: doctors inject patients with "weakened" versions of infectious organisms, allowing the immune system to prepare a defence. However, the immune system is "blind" to many infections such as the bacteria behind meningitis - a serious illness affecting the brain. Changing the paradigm, Rappuoli applied genetic engineering to create hybrids between bacterial DNA and proteins to attract the immune system's attention. It was a watershed. When the first "conjugate vaccine" against whooping cough became standard in Italy in 1993, the disease was eradicated within two years. The same happened when Rappuoli's meningitis C vaccine, for which he tapped genome pioneer Craig Venter to DNA-sequence bacteria, became part of the UK's immunisation scheme. The underlying process of "reverse vaccinology" forever changed vaccination design. "Vaccines are now no longer based on grown agents, but are designed on the computer using genomics," says Rappuoli. He made history by developing and patenting the first-ever vaccines for each strand of meningococcal meningitis - namely A, B, C, Y and W-135 - that have been approved world-wide.
Making an impact
Rappuoli's life's work has enabled him to leave a mark. "I spent most of my life working in company-owned research institutes, because there you can go beyond the paper and translate your discovery into real products that can have an impact on people," he says. Patented inventions such as his anti-meningitis B vaccine Bexsero are used worldwide, generating annual sales of approximately EUR 465 million for its license holders. Their underlying laboratory techniques, for which Rappuoli holds around 150 granted and pending European patent families, have also unlocked new fields of scientific development. Meanwhile, Rappuoli has also set up a global health institute devoted to developing vaccines for which there is no market, but for which there is a huge medical need in low-income countries. Through the institute, the patents, know-how and technology can be made available free-of-charge: "With vaccines, life expectancy can be increased and the gap between rich and poor reduced," he says.
A lifetime of fighting infectious diseases
One of the most influential careers in microbiology was inspired by the devastating effects of pandemic infections. The unfinished cathedral wall in his native Siena - a remnant of the year 1348, when the "Black Death" ravaged the city - set Rappuoli on his course: "Such a thing should never happen again, so I decided to devote my entire life to the development of vaccines." Over the years, Rappuoli's contributions have been recognised with the highest honours in the field of medicine, including the Italian Gold Medal for Public Healthcare. But his work is never finished. As the Chief Scientist at global pharmaceutical manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Vaccines, Rappuoli is preparing vaccines against Respiratory Syncytial virus, Cytomegalovirus and other potentially devastating infections: "I believe there is no better job in the world," the microbiologist says.