Capsular polysaccharides solubilisation and combination vaccines

摘要

Precipitated bacterial capsular polysaccharides can be efficiently re-solubilized using alcohols as solvents. The invention provides a process for purifying a bacterial capsular polysaccharide, comprising the steps of (a) precipitation of said polysaccharide, followed by (b) solubilization of the precipitated polysaccharide using ethanol. CTAB can be used for step (a). The material obtained, preferably following hydrolysis and sizing, can be conjugated to a carrier protein and formulated as a vaccine. Also, in vaccines comprising saccharides from both serogroups A and C, the invention provides that the ratio (w/w) of MenA saccharide:MenC saccharide is >1.

主权项

1. A kit comprising: (a) conjugated capsular saccharide from Neisseria meningitidis (N. meningitidis) serogroup A, in lyophilized form; and (b) capsular saccharides from one or more of N. meningitidis serogroups C, W135 and Y, in liquid form wherein the ratio (w/w) of saccharides from serogroup A to at least one of the one or more saccharides of (b) is 2:1, wherein the conjugated capsular saccharide of (a) and the capsular saccharides from (b) are stable after storage for four weeks at 36-38° C. as determined by measuring the total saccharide and the free saccharide.