# Peptide-vaccine development against Lyme disease Supplement

> **NIH NIH R01** · WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $204,972

## Abstract

Project Summary
Lyme disease is an endemic tick-borne disease associated with debilitating manifestations such as arthritis,
muscle pain, carditis, meningitis, and encephalomyelitis. Despite extensive efforts in the field, there is still no
vaccine for the prevention of this infection available for human use. To address this problem, our laboratory has
developed novel methodologies to identify antigens relevant during bacterial infection in ticks and mammals and
design peptide antigens based on extracellular and conserved regions of these proteins. Through the work
proposed in the parent application, we are selecting and evaluating outer-membrane proteins expressed in
various phases of the enzootic cycle of B. burgdorferi as vaccine antigens against Lyme disease. This is currently
performed using peptide and recombinant protein-based vaccines. In this supplement, we propose to expand
vaccine formulations to the mRNA vaccine platform. We have secured partners that will generate mRNA
constructs encoding the antigens of interest and encase them in world class clinical grade lipid nanoparticles.
We will first validate the mRNA technology for in vitro and in vivo expression and immunogenicity, and perform
head-to-head comparisons with the peptide and recombinant formulations. We will use veterinary Lyme vaccines
for comparison. At the conclusion of this work, we will have evaluated a novel platform for Lyme vaccine
development and generated essential pre-clinical data to enable transition to clinical studies for the development
of a vaccine against Lyme disease in humans.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10626402
- **Project number:** 3R01AI152219-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Mariette Barbier
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $204,972
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-05-15 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10626402

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10626402, Peptide-vaccine development against Lyme disease Supplement (3R01AI152219-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10626402. Licensed CC0.

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