06/12/2007

COMPUVAC, a new research project, aims to design and develop new genetic vaccines with the immediate goal of ensuring high safety and effectiveness specifications. Eighteen research teams from prominent academic and research foundations, as well as companies from nine European countries, specialised and experienced in the sectors of immunology, virology, molecular biology, vaccine development and bioinformation, are taking part in the project. The Greek Pasteur Institute is one of the partners in the project.

The project's main contribution is the creation of a recognised experimental database, known as GeVaDs (Genetic vaccine Decision Support system), which will make it possible to assess the effectiveness and safety of genetic vaccines. The GeVaDs database will be accessible by the whole scientific community via the internet and is expected to be a powerful tool for the comparative assessment of experimental vaccines.

The Greek Pasteur Institute's Molecular Virology Laboratory is taking an active part in assessing genetic vaccines and in the formation of GeVaDs. Within this framework research is being carried out into the interaction of experimental vaccines with the immune system, with the help of the new technology of DNA microarrays. At the same time, the Molecular Virology Laboratory is studying deactivated/ weakened viral vectors for the development of new-generation vaccines.

On 7 November, as part of the COMPUVAC European project and the "Open Doors" programme, the Greek Pasteur Institute organised a day on the subject of "Perspectives in Vaccine Development". The speakers included the eminent scientists Dr Hansi J. Dean (Director of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative), Dr Tina Dalianis (Professor and Head of the Department of Oncology-Pathology at Karolinska Institute of Sweden) and Professor David Klatzmann, Scientific Coordinator of the COMPUVAC project.

Source: Greek Pasteur Institute