Development of an Intranasal Gel for the Delivery of a Broadly Acting Subunit Influenza Vaccine

Influenza virus is a major cause of death on a global scale. Seasonal vaccines have been developed to combat influenza; however, they are not always highly effective. One strategy to develop a more broadly active influenza vaccine is the use of multiple rounds of layered consensus buildings to generate recombinant antigens, termed computationally optimized broadly reactive antigen (COBRA). Immunization with the COBRA hemagglutinin (HA) can elicit broad protection against multiple strains of a single influenza subtype (e.g., H1N1). We formulated a COBRA H1 HA with a stimulator of interferon genes agonist cyclic guanosine monophosphate–adenosine monophosphate (cGAMP) into a nasal gel for vaccination against influenza. The gel formulation was designed to increase mucoadhesion and nasal retention of the antigen and adjuvant to promote a strong mucosal response. It consisted of a Schiff base-crosslinked hydrogel between branched polyethyleneimine and oxidized dextran. Following a prime-boost-boost schedule, an intranasal gel containing cGAMP and model antigen ovalbumin (OVA) led to the faster generation of serum IgG, IgG1, and IgG2c and significantly greater serum IgG1 levels on day 42 compared to soluble controls. Additionally, OVA-specific IgA was detected in nasal, vaginal, and fecal samples for all groups, except the vehicle control. When the COBRA HA was given intranasally in a prime-boost schedule, the mice receiving the gel containing the COBRA and cGAMP had significantly higher serum IgG and IgG2c at day 41 compared to all groups, and only this group had IgA levels above the background in vaginal, nasal, and fecal samples. Overall, this study indicates the utility of an intranasal gel for the delivery of COBRAs for the generation of serum and mucosal humoral responses.