The vaccine, described in Cell Press, uses the same mRNA technology as the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. Researchers identified one of the proteins in B. burgdorferi that elicits a potent immune response and created a vaccine that targeted that protein, according to a Sept. 19 system news release.
In animal models, the vaccine induced a strong antigen-specific antibody and T-cell response as well as a strong memory B cell response after a single vaccination.
“The mRNA technology shows great promise for use in developing a vaccine that may prevent Lyme disease and subsequent development of the debilitating symptoms of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome,” senior author Norbert Pardi, PhD, an assistant professor of microbiology at Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine, said in the release.
