Layer-by-Layer Sustained Delivery for HIV-1 Vaccine

1.5 million people are infected with HIV-1 each year. The annual crude rate of new HIV infections in the U.S. military between 2018 and 2023 was 21 per 100,000, much higher than the estimated 11.5 per 100,000 in the U.S. general population in 2021. Although many strategies have been attempted for HIV-1 vaccine development, none has been established successfully. The HIV-1 vaccine field is at a crossroads and new vaccine designs and delivery strategies are needed. It was recently reported that slower sustained vaccine delivery enhanced immune response relative to traditional bolus immunizations. This promise has attracted significant attention, especially when poor patient compliance with the standard multidose vaccine regimes is considered, in military large-scale combat operations and garrison, thus drastically reducing the cost, streamlining distribution, and improving efficacy. Luna Labs USA, LLC proposes to adapt our established plant-based chitosan layer-by-layer (LbLVac) “plug-and-play” nano-assembly vaccine platform to HIV-1 vaccine. It delivers antigens in a controllable manner for prolonging bioavailability of antigen to achieve long-term protection in a single dose. This single-dose sustained release (SDSR) vaccines would be the next generation of vaccine tools that serve not only for the HIV-1 but also as a new vaccine platform technology to combat future pandemics.