Is 2025 the Year of AI & Vaccines?
For the first time, and probably not the last, a scientific breakthrough enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) received recognition with a Nobel prize. The Nobel Prize 2024 in Chemistry was awarded to John Jumper and Demis Hassabis at Google DeepMind in London, for developing AlphaFold, a game-changing AI tool for predicting protein structures, thereby revolutionising fields such as medicine, vaccine development, and material science.
From scientific breakthroughs to mainstream adoption and regulatory advancements, AI has undoubtedly reshaped industries and redefined possibilities in 2024, setting the stage for an even more transformative 2025.
This transformation is somewhat evident with Russia announcing the launch of a groundbreaking personalised mRNA cancer vaccine in 2025, where AI has played a critical role in its development.
AI is surely at the forefront of innovation in vaccine design and distribution. Its capacity to analyse vast datasets, predict immune responses, and optimise vaccine development holds immense promise in combating diseases. For instance, the fast-tracked development of various COVID-19 mRNA vaccines is an irrefutable proof-of-concept for AI-assisted vaccine development against different pathogens.
As a recent development, Norway-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is providing up to $4.98 million to US-based Houston Methodist Research Institute (HMRI) to combine AI with established laboratory techniques to speed up the design of future vaccines against novel viral threats.
Further, AI experts from the HMRI, University of Texas-Austin, La Jolla Institute, and Argonne National Laboratory (University of Chicago) will use machine-learning approaches to optimise the design of potential epitopes. The University of Texas Medical Branch will then validate the immunogenicity of these potential vaccine candidates using established preclinical models.
Should a new pathogen emerge in future, vaccine developers could quickly respond by selecting AI-identified epitopes that would have already been validated in preclinical tests, thereby enabling vaccine candidates to be moved quickly into clinical testing.
Citing another example, Germany-based NEC Bio Therapeutics is developing a personalised bacteria-based oral DNA therapeutic vaccine, using AI prediction of the most immunogenic patient-specific neoepitopes. This vaccine is designed to activate the patient’s immune system, prompting a T-cell response that can precisely target and eliminate tumour cells based on the individual’s unique neoantigens.
Evaxion Biotech, a clinical-stage biotechnology company based in Denmark, is currently working towards developing a novel precision cancer vaccine designed using its proprietary AI-Immunology platform. While the vaccine targets non-conventional endogenous retrovirus (ERV) tumour antigens that are common across patients, potentially broadening the applicability of cancer vaccines, the AI-Immunology platform can effectively identify potent ERV antigenic hotspots.
Focusing on unreached areas, researchers at University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School are using AI to identify potential gonorrhoea vaccine proteins. Recognizing that gonorrhoea is difficult to treat, and there is no approved vaccine, researchers have identified 26 potential antigens using AI. The group has now partnered with a South African company to develop an experimental mRNA vaccine using the antigens.
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Although AI assisted research and innovation in vaccine development programmes have the power to improve global human health and increase life expectancy, it cannot replace laboratory experimentation and animal and human trials, which remain indispensable steps in ensuring vaccine safety, efficacy, and are essential for regulatory approval.
Nevertheless, the AI-driven tools will continue to be harnessed as the future holds great promise for the rapid creation of effective vaccines, particularly for emerging biological threats.
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