Preparing today for tomorrow’s health emergency
HIV. SARS. E. coli. COVID‑19. Each of these illnesses was once considered "emerging."
The World Health Organization defines an emerging disease as one that appears in a population for the first time, or has existed before but is spreading quickly in numbers or into new regions.
Dr. Mike McCluskie, Director of Research and Development in Immunobiology with the Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, leads the NRC's work to help Canada and the world prepare for these threats.
"COVID‑19 is a recent example of an emerging viral disease with devastating global impacts," says Dr. McCluskie. "Infectious disease experts are constantly looking into what the next pandemic might be and how we can prepare to prevent and treat it."
Working on treatments for diseases that do not exist yet might sound unusual. But once a new infection spreads, it's often too late to start developing a vaccine from scratch.
The solution is like having staple ingredients in your kitchen.
Stocking the pantry
If you know you'll bake a cake but don't know the flavour, you can still buy sugar, flour and eggs – ingredients you'll likely need no matter what type you make.
The same principle applies to making vaccines. But starting early is critical because unlike cake ingredients, developing different parts of a vaccine can take years.
The NRC has been designing, developing and testing components of vaccines and therapeutics for decades. Now, the focus is on having those components ready and available so researchers can assemble them quickly to target whatever new disease might appear.
An adjuvant is one of those key components. Added to a vaccine, an adjuvant can enhance the body's immune response, making the vaccine more effective and often reducing the required dose. Having adjuvants "on the shelf" means faster responses to emerging diseases.
Developing the key ingredients
NRC researchers in immunology, infectious diseases and glycochemistry have developed an adjuvant that has the potential to enhance the effectiveness of many protein‑based vaccines. This makes it a valuable tool in preparing for future outbreaks of unknown diseases.
More than 20 years ago, NRC researchers Drs. Dennis Sprott and Girish Patel discovered that unique lipids found in microorganisms called archaea have properties that can stimulate the immune system.
Dr. Lakshmi Krishnan, now the NRC's Vice‑President of Life Sciences, joined the team early on and led immunological studies confirming that these lipids could work as vaccine adjuvants. The team patented their composition, production methods and the uses of this type of lipid as a vaccine adjuvant.
Over the years, NRC teams refined and validated the adjuvant in various vaccine models, created a synthetic production method, and improved formulation so it could be easily added to any vaccine.
In preclinical tests, the NRC's novel adjuvant – called sulfated lactosyl archaeol (SLA) – proved effective in boosting immune responses to a broad range of antigens, including for diseases such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, influenza and SARS‑CoV‑2.
"Developing new vaccine adjuvants has been a holy grail for immunologists for decades," says Dr. Krishnan. "The history of archaeal lipid research at the NRC shows how many disciplines came together to advance this innovation. It's especially rewarding to see our work move from discovery to design and into an application that is close to realizing real‑world impact."
From the pantry to the library
In mid‑2024, the NRC licensed the SLA adjuvant to Glycovax Pharma, a Montréal‑based biopharmaceutical company. Glycovax will use it develop its own vaccines and produce it for other vaccine developers.
"Licensing the SLA adjuvant was a tremendously proud moment for the team," says Dr. McCluskie. "At the same time, we wanted it to have a broader impact on global emergency preparedness. We hoped to make it available to more vaccine developers for public good projects."
That opportunity came through the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a global partnership working to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats.
When Dr. McCluskie heard that CEPI was looking for adjuvant developers to help build a global library of "off-the-shelf" adjuvants for vaccine developers worldwide, he proposed the SLA adjuvant for inclusion.
Following a thorough submission and validation process, CEPI launched the world's first adjuvant library in July 2025 – with the NRC-developed SLA adjuvant among its holdings.
CEPI's adjuvant library works like a public library – vaccine developers can browse the available adjuvants, test a few, and choose the one that works best for their project.
"Being part of the world's first adjuvant library showcases the NRC's expertise internationally," says Dr. McCluskie. "More importantly, it means our work can be used to help speed up the global response time for future health emergencies."