Dr. Mario Monteiro and team celebrate huge leap forward for study
Dr. Mario Monteiro, of the University of Guelph’s Department of Chemistry, has recently been approved for human clinical trial for his potential vaccine that would protect against Campylobacter jejuni, a bacteria that causes gastric disorders.
Monteiro, who studies polysaccharides (or complex sugars) and their reactions on bacterial surfaces, is one of the world’s only researchers working on these unique sugar-based vaccines. Monteiro’s research aims to protect both humans and animals from serious gastric disorders and other diseases.
The potential drug, which was invented at the university, is the first U of G technology to reach this testing phase. Monteiro and his team discovered a carbohydrate-based antigen which caused mice to develop antibodies against a bacterium linked to gastric cancer. The vaccine itself is a conjugate, containing polysaccharides from C. jejuni.
Monteiro is also known for his work on carbohydrate-based vaccines – specifically for Clostridium difficile – and he has previously collaborated with Master’s student Brittany Pequegnat on such a vaccine against Clostridium bolteae , a gut bug which is most common in autistic children.
Monteiro began collaborating on the vaccine with the United States Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) just after joining U of G nearly a decade ago. After years of hard work, Monteiro and his team reached their first success, when in a 2009 peer-reviewed study, the proposed vaccine proved to be 100-per cent effective against diarrheal disease in monkeys.
“It’s very rare that you have a discovery go this far,” said Monteiro in an interview.
C. jejuni is one of the leading bacterial causes of food-borne illness in the world, resulting in 1.3 million cases a year in North America and occurring at much higher rates in some developing countries. The bacteria also cause “traveller’s diarrhea,” which is a common problem for Canadians visiting developing countries. No vaccines currently exist for C. jejuni, and as such, Monteiro’s discovery is particularly exciting – especially for Canadians who love to country hop.
On Thursday, May 8th, Dalton Pharma Services – a privately owned pharmaceutical service provider – announced the approval of the United States Federal Drug Agency (FDA) for Phase I of human clinical trials. The vaccine was produced in lyophilized vial form by Dalton Pharma, funded by a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) grant awarded to Dr. Patricia Guerry – a microbiologist with the NMRC – and under contract with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine.
“We at Dalton are very proud to have played an important role in the achievement of this milestone,” said Peter Pekos, the President and CEO of the company. “We look forward to providing continued support for the work of the NMRC and University of Guelph in the research and development of novel vaccines.”
Approval for the trial was received in February, and Phase I began on April 21st. Phase 1 of the human trials for the C. jejuni vaccine is expected to continue until early 2015, after which several other phases will take place. Human clinical trials often run for several years before they are complete.
“It’s cool – that’s the word I use with my kids in the lab – that something you made, other people want to take it, use it and test it to help people,” concluded Monteiro. “It’s very satisfying that what you do with your hands, with chemistry, can have a positive impact for global health.”