A respirable HPV-L2 dry-powder vaccine with GLA as amphiphilic lubricant and immune-adjuvant

Vaccines not requiring cold-chain storage/distribution and suitable for needle-free delivery are urgently needed. Pulmonary administration is one of the most promising non-parenteral routes for vaccine delivery. Through a multi-component excipient and spray-drying approach, we engineered highly respirable dry-powder vaccine particles containing a three-fold repeated peptide epitope derived from human papillomavirus (HPV16) minor capsid protein L2 displayed on Pyrococcus furious thioredoxin as antigen. A key feature of our engineering approach was the use of the amphiphilic endotoxin derivative glucopyranosyl lipid A (GLA) as both a coating agent enhancing particle de-aggregation and respirability as well as a built-in immune-adjuvant. Following an extensive characterization of the in vitro aerodynamic performance, lung deposition was verified in vivo by intratracheal administration in mice of a vaccine powder containing a fluorescently labeled derivative of the antigen. This was followed by a short-term immunization study that highlighted the ability of the GLA-adjuvanted vaccine powder to induce an anti-L2 systemic immune response comparable to (or even better than) that of the subcutaneously administered liquid-form vaccine. Despite the very short-term immunization conditions employed for this preliminary vaccination experiment, the intratracheally administered dry-powder, but not the subcutaneously injected liquid-state, vaccine induced consistent HPV neutralizing responses. Overall, the present data provide proof-of-concept validation of a new formulation design to produce a dry-powder vaccine that may be easily transferred to other antigens.