With the goal of creating a universal influenza vaccine, we have created Mosaic and Epigraph hemagglutinin immunogens that are computationally designed to select for the greatest coverage of B and T cell epitopes in the natural population. Our preliminary data show that these Mosaic and Epigraph immunogens induce superior cross-reactive antibody responses, superior overall T cell immunity, superior breadth of recognized T cell epitopes, and superior protection against a lethal influenza challenge as compared to wildtype immunogens. We are testing these Mosaic and Epigraph universal immunogens head-to-head versus the commercial inactivated influenza vaccine, FluZone, or wildtype HA immunogens for enhanced cross-protective vaccine efficacy against a wide array of divergent influenza viruses.
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