GMMA as an Alternative Carrier for a Glycoconjugate Vaccine against Group A Streptococcus .

Group A Streptococcus (GAS) causes about 500,000 annual deaths globally, and no vaccines are currently available. The Group A Carbohydrate (GAC), conserved across all GAS serotypes, conjugated to an appropriate carrier protein, represents a promising vaccine candidate. Here, we explored the possibility to use Generalized Modules for Membrane Antigens (GMMA) as an alternative carrier system for GAC, exploiting their intrinsic adjuvant properties. Immunogenicity of GAC-GMMA conjugate was evaluated in different animal species in comparison to GAC-CRM 197 ; and the two conjugates were also compared from a techno-economic point of view. GMMA proved to be a good alternative carrier for GAC, resulting in a higher immune response compared to CRM 197 in different mice strains, as verified by ELISA and FACS analyses. Differently from CRM 197 , GMMA induced significant levels of anti-GAC IgG titers in mice also in the absence of Alhydrogel. In rabbits, a difference in the immune response could not be appreciated; however, antibodies from GAC-GMMA-immunized animals showed higher affinity toward purified GAC antigen compared to those elicited by GAC-CRM 197 . In addition, the GAC-GMMA production process proved to be more cost-effective, making this conjugate particularly attractive for low- and middle-income countries, where this pathogen has a huge burden.