IP Library › Granted Patent US 12691173
Granted Patent B2
US 12691173 · App. 18/287,444 · Granted Jul 28, 2026

Toll-like receptor agonist-nanoparticle vaccine adjuvant

Inventors: Qian Yin (Los Altos, CA); Mark M. Davis (Atherton, CA); Wei Luo (Redwood City, CA); Bali Pulendran (Redwood City, CA)
Assignee: The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
A61K39/39A61K39/215A61P37/04A61K2039/54A61K2039/543A61K2039/55511
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12691173
App. No.
18/287,444
Granted
Jul 28, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Compositions and methods are provided relating to TLR agonist nanoparticle vaccine adjuvant formulations.

Claims (23)

1 . A vaccine composition comprising:

a pathogen antigen; and

a plurality of nanoparticles, wherein each nanoparticle comprises:

(i) an adjuvant-polymer conjugate comprising a toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonist conjugated via an ester linkage to a poly(lactic acid), wherein the TLR7 agonist is selected from the group consisting of resiquimod and gardiquimod; and

(ii) a copolymer selected from the group consisting of a poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), a poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(lactic acid), and a poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(glycolic acid); and

(iii) wherein the nanoparticle is formed by co-precipitation of (i) and (ii).

2 . The vaccine composition of claim 1 , wherein the TLR7 agonist is gardiquimod.

3 . The vaccine composition of claim 1 , wherein the copolymer is poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid).

4 . The vaccine composition of claim 2 , wherein the copolymer is poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid).

5 . The vaccine composition of claim 1 , wherein the nanoparticles are from about 60 nm to about 85 nm in diameter.

6 . The vaccine composition of claim 1 , wherein the standard deviation of diameter of the nanoparticles is less than about 15 nm.

7 . The vaccine composition of claim 1 , wherein the pathogen antigen is a polypeptide.

8 . The vaccine composition of claim 1 , wherein the pathogen antigen is a virus protein subunit.

9 . The vaccine composition of claim 1 , wherein the pathogen antigen is an inactivated whole virus.

10 . The vaccine composition of claim 1 , wherein the pathogen antigen is a coronaviral or influenza antigen.

11 . The vaccine composition of claim 1 , wherein the pathogen antigen is a SARS-CoV-2 antigen.

12 . The vaccine composition of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of nanoparticles comprises the pathogen antigen, which is co-precipitated with (i) the adjuvant-polymer conjugate and (ii) the copolymer.

13 . The vaccine composition of claim 1 , wherein the pathogen antigen is conjugated to the nanoparticles.

14 . The vaccine composition of claim 1 , wherein the pathogen antigen is not conjugated to the nanoparticles.

15 . The vaccine composition of claim 2 , wherein the adjuvant-polymer conjugate has the following structure:

where n is from 5 to 100.

16 . A method of inducing an antigen-specific immune response in a mammal in need thereof comprising intramuscularly, subcutaneously, or intranasally administering to the mammal an effective amount of the vaccine composition of claim 1 .

17 . A method of inducing an antigen-specific immune response in a mammal in need thereof comprising intramuscularly, subcutaneously, or intranasally administering to the mammal an effective amount of the vaccine composition of claim 15 .