Roadmap for the development of candidate vaccine for bTB

What are we trying to achieve and why? What is the problem we are trying to solve?

The development of an effective novel vaccine. A replicating organism expressing the correct combination of Ags is more likely to generate the required type of immune response but as it would have a restricted combination of TB antigens it is unlikely to give false positive test results in the standard skin test

What are the scientific and technological challenges
(knowledge gaps needing to be addressed)?

• Generating a strong protective immune response
• Preventing the development of immune responses to the vector

What approaches could/should be taken to address the research question?

• Establishing the immune responses to the M bovis antigens following vaccination with the vectored vaccine.
• Establishing the immune responses to the vector
• Challenge experiments involving animals vaccinated with candidate organisms.

What else needs to be done before we can solve this need?

• Identifying a combination of antigens for expression by a vector or a common single Ag to which immune responses are normally suppressed
• Identifying a suitable vector

Existing knowledge including successes and failures