{"id":34870,"date":"2020-12-21T11:51:01","date_gmt":"2020-12-21T10:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?p=34870"},"modified":"2024-03-22T11:32:56","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T10:32:56","slug":"how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"How EMBL alumni created a groundbreaking vaccine technology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The first vaccines with demonstrated efficacy against COVID-19 were announced in November, and are now moving rapidly toward implementation.  <\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vaccines developed by Pfizer\/BioNTech<\/a> and Moderna<\/a> work by delivering a genetic message into human cells in the form of a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA), wrapped in a protective coat. mRNA is a type of molecule found in most of our cells, which carries instructions from our DNA to our cells\u2019 protein-making machinery. In this case, the mRNA in the vaccine instructs our cells to produce coronavirus proteins, which don\u2019t cause illness but do trigger an immune response. If we\u2019re infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, our immune system is prepared to fight it off, blunting infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Oxford\/Astra Zeneca<\/a> vaccine also delivers a genetic message to human cells, but it does so in the form of \u2018cargo\u2019 carried by another type of virus. In this viral piggyback system, the instructions for producing coronavirus proteins are brought into cells by infecting them with a harmless virus called an adenovirus, which is one type of virus that causes the common cold. This system makes the vaccine easier to produce and store, so it\u2019s cheaper and more versatile. To work efficiently, the trick is to use an adenovirus from primates, because a form that infects humans is more likely to be recognised and destroyed by our immune system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bringing the EMBL spirit back to Italy<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The story that led to the first primate adenovirus-based vaccine began in 1979, when Riccardo Cortese \u2013 an Italian medical doctor convinced that fundamental research was the route to improved medicine \u2013 was recruited at EMBL Heidelberg. With his rare vision and talent, Riccardo was asked to set up and lead EMBL\u2019s Gene Expression Programme, to which he attracted a number of other Italian scientists. \u201cWe were all in the same corridor,\u201d he said in a 2015 interview<\/a>, \u201cwhich apparently had the permanent aroma of espresso.\u201d Among this group were two young scientists: Alfredo Nicosia and Alessandra Vitelli. The time the three of them spent together at EMBL sowed the seeds for a lifelong friendship and a professional partnership that gave rise to their work on chimpanzee adenovirus-based vaccines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the time came to leave EMBL, Riccardo was called back to Italy to found a new institute for molecular biology research, IRBM, near Rome, as the Italian site of Merck Research Laboratories. Alfredo and Alessandra joined Riccardo, and together they began to learn about drug discovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around that time, Merck had started a project with the aim of producing a vaccine for HIV based on a viral vector. The idea was to insert a set of HIV genes into an adenovirus carrier, to stimulate an HIV-specific immune response that would protect against infection. The approach piqued the interest of Riccardo and his colleagues, who decided to apply it to the development of a vaccine against the hepatitis C virus. The adenovirus vector looked promising, but in people previously exposed to adenovirus the immune response, and hence the effect of the vaccine, was weakened. This prompted the idea of using the chimpanzee adenovirus as a carrier. This virus would be similar enough to human viruses that it could readily infect human cells, but different enough to avoid being rejected by the immune system. The approach worked, and was patented<\/a> in 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HIV vaccine project failed to deliver positive results, however, so Merck decided to drop this whole line of vaccine research. Nevertheless, Riccardo was convinced that the approach was promising, and successfully negotiated the licence to further develop chimpanzee adenoviruses at Okairos, a new company he founded in 2007, along with Alfredo and two other colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This pioneering work led to the development and manufacture of the first simian adenovirus vectors to enter clinical trials in humans. These tackled major infectious diseases such as hepatitis C, malaria, HIV, respiratory syncytial virus, and Ebola. In 2013, Okairos was acquired by GSK under an agreement negotiated by Riccardo, in which the intellectual property was sold but the team of researchers was preserved and reborn as the company ReiThera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Towards a COVID vaccine <\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Italy in early March 2020, ReiThera moved rapidly to adapt their latest, improved adenovirus vector \u2013 based on a gorilla adenovirus \u2013 to produce a COVID-19 vaccine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter the experience at Okairos, we had acquired the know-how,\u201d says Alessandra Vitelli, now Chief Scientific Officer at ReiThera. \u201cWe had isolated a new adenovirus from gorillas, showing better delivery features and stronger immunogenicity in mice than the chimp adenovirus. We had just applied to receive a grant from CEPI \u2013 the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations \u2013 to develop a vaccine platform ready for future epidemic outbreaks. When the current pandemic broke out, we decided to repurpose our new gorilla vector against SARS-CoV-2.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riccardo Cortese passed away<\/a> in 2017. Alfredo Nicosia headed ReiThera until 2019, when he took up a teaching post at the University of Naples Federico II. But a new generation of scientists are further developing and improving the original technology. Among them is another EMBL alumnus, Angelo Raggioli, who joined ReiThera in 2019 as Head of Vectorology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy current job at ReiThera is very similar to what I did at EMBL Rome,\u201d says Angelo, who developed the vector that is currently being used in ReiThera\u2019s COVID-19 vaccine, called GRAd-COV2. \u201cThe only difference is that here we all work towards a single goal, while at EMBL we collaborated on many different projects. Working for a company, I am more limited in the kind of reagents that I can use, as many are covered by patents. On the other side, I enjoy the excitement that comes from the practical implications of my research.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Closing the circle<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Riccardo and his colleagues contributed to EMBL\u2019s innovative and dynamic spirit and then brought this back with them to Italy, where they\u2019ve applied it throughout their careers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEMBL gave me the opportunity to measure my skills, and to share my experiences,\u201d says Alfredo Nicosia. \u201cIt gave me access to tools and knowledge, and to an incredible range of expertise. It ingrained in me an open community culture, which I have used throughout my life to connect people and develop ideas. The challenge is to get things started, as Riccardo used to say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\n\n

Ex ricercatori EMBL artefici di una innovativa tecnologia vaccinale<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Un gruppo di scienziati italiani, ex ricercatori dell\u2019EMBL, hanno messo a punto la tecnologia su cui si basano alcuni tra i pi\u00f9 promettenti vaccini contro il COVID-19<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Rappresentazione
Rappresentazione artistica di un adenovirus e una fiala di vaccino. IMMAGINE: AdobeStock, adattata da Aleksandra Krolik\/EMBL<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u00c8 di queste settimane l\u2019annuncio dei primi vaccini che hanno dimostrato efficacia contro il COVID-19, e della loro imminente produzione su scala mondiale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I vaccini sviluppati da Pfizer\/BioNTech<\/a> e Moderna<\/a> funzionano trasportando all\u2019interno delle cellule umane un messaggio genetico, sotto forma di una molecola di RNA messaggero (mRNA) avvolta in un involucro protettivo. L\u2019mRNA \u00e8 una molecola presente nelle nostre cellule che contiene le istruzioni per la produzione di proteine sulla base delle informazioni genetiche del DNA. In questo caso, l\u2019mRNA del vaccino istruisce le cellule a produrre proteine del coronavirus, innocue per le cellule ma in grado di attivare la risposta immunitaria dell\u2019organismo. Pertanto, in caso di contatto con il virus SARS-CoV-2, il sistema immunitario \u00e8 gi\u00e0 preparato a combattere e sconfiggere l’infezione.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anche il vaccino sviluppato da Oxford\/AstraZeneca<\/a> si basa sul trasferimento di un messaggio genetico all\u2019interno delle cellule umane. In questo caso, per\u00f2, le istruzioni per produrre le proteine del coronavirus vengono trasportate all\u2019interno delle cellule da un \u201cvettore\u201d, cio\u00e8 un altro virus non nocivo chiamato adenovirus \u2013 che causa il comune raffreddore. Questo sistema rende il vaccino pi\u00f9 facile da produrre e conservare, e quindi pi\u00f9 economico e versatile. Il segreto per aumentare l\u2019efficacia di questo approccio sta nell\u2019utilizzare adenovirus che solitamente infettano i primati, poich\u00e9 quelli che infettano l\u2019uomo sono pi\u00f9 facilmente riconosciuti e neutralizzati dal nostro sistema immunitario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lo spirito dell\u2019EMBL riportato in Italia<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

La storia che ha portato all’invenzione del primo vaccino basato sull\u2019adenovirus di primati ha le sue origini nel 1979, quando Riccardo Cortese – un medico italiano convinto che la ricerca di base fosse fondamentale per il progresso della medicina – venne reclutato all\u2019EMBL di Heidelberg. Come riconoscimento del suo talento e della sua visione fuori dal comune, gli fu chiesto di fondare e dirigere il programma di espressione genica dell’EMBL, per il quale Riccardo reclut\u00f2 diversi altri ricercatori italiani. \u201cEravamo tutti nello stesso corridoio,\u201d ricordava in un\u2019intervista<\/a> del 2015, \u201cun corridoio che sembrava avere l\u2019aroma perenne di caff\u00e8 espresso.” Tra questi c\u2019erano anche due giovani scienziati: Alfredo Nicosia e Alessandra Vitelli. Il periodo che i tre ricercatori trascorsero insieme all\u2019EMBL segn\u00f2 l\u2019inizio di una lunga amicizia e di un sodalizio professionale che consent\u00ec lo sviluppo di una tecnologia vaccinale innovativa basata sull\u2019adenovirus di scimpanz\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giunto il momento di lasciare l’EMBL, Riccardo venne richiamato in Italia per fondare vicino Roma un nuovo istituto di ricerca di biologia molecolare – l’IRBM – scelto dai Merck Research Laboratories come loro sede italiana. Alfredo e Alessandra si unirono a Riccardo e insieme cominciarono ad esplorare il mondo della ricerca applicata allo sviluppo di farmaci.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In quel periodo Merck aveva avviato un progetto finalizzato alla produzione di un vaccino contro l’HIV: l\u2019idea era di inserire un gruppo di geni dell’HIV in un vettore di adenovirus in grado di entrare nelle cellule umane e stimolare una risposta immunitaria specifica contro l’HIV che proteggesse l\u2019organismo dall’infezione.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

L’approccio suscit\u00f2 l’interesse di Riccardo e dei suoi colleghi, che decisero di applicarlo allo sviluppo di un vaccino contro il virus dell’epatite C (HCV). Il vettore adenovirale sembrava efficace, ma nei soggetti che erano stati precedentemente esposti all’adenovirus la risposta immunitaria, e dunque l’effetto del vaccino, appariva pi\u00f9 debole. I ricercatori pensarono quindi di utilizzare come vettore un adenovirus di scimpanz\u00e9. Questo virus, infatti, sarebbe stato sufficientemente simile ai virus umani da infettare efficacemente le cellule umane, ma al tempo stesso abbastanza diverso da non essere riconosciuto e neutralizzato dal sistema immunitario. L’intuizione si rivel\u00f2 vincente e la nuova tecnologia venne brevettata<\/a> nel 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La sperimentazione del vaccino contro l’HIV non produsse risultati positivi e Merck decise di sospendere l’intera linea di ricerca sui vaccini. Tuttavia Riccardo, convinto che l’approccio fosse promettente, riusc\u00ec a negoziare la licenza per sviluppare ulteriormente i vettori adenovirali di scimpanz\u00e9 presso Okairos, una nuova azienda che egli fond\u00f2 nel 2007, insieme ad Alfredo e altri due colleghi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

L\u2019applicazione della loro tecnologia pioneristica consent\u00ec la produzione dei primi vaccini basati su vettori adenovirali da primati contro diverse malattie infettive come epatite C, malaria, HIV, virus respiratorio sinciziale e Ebola. Nel 2013, Okairos venne acquisita da GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in base a un accordo, negoziato anche in questo caso da Riccardo, secondo cui la propriet\u00e0 intellettuale veniva ceduta, ma il personale veniva interamente preservato ed integrato in una nuova azienda \u2013 ReiThera \u2013 fondata dallo stesso team di ricercatori.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verso un vaccino per COVID-19<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Quando \u00e8 scoppiata la pandemia COVID-19 in Italia, all’inizio di marzo 2020, ReiThera si \u00e8 mossa rapidamente per adattare il suo nuovo vettore \u2013 ulteriormente migliorato e basato su un adenovirus di gorilla \u2013 allo sviluppo di un vaccino contro il COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDopo l’esperienza in Okairos, avevamo acquisito il know-how,\u201d dice Alessandra Vitelli, ora Chief Scientific Officer di ReiThera. \u201cAvevamo gi\u00e0 isolato un nuovo adenovirus dal gorilla, che mostrava migliori capacit\u00e0 di trasporto nelle cellule e una immunogenicit\u00e0 pi\u00f9 forte nei topi rispetto all’adenovirus degli scimpanz\u00e9. Avevamo appena presentato una richiesta per ottenere un finanziamento dal CEPI \u2013 la Coalizione per le innovazioni nella preparazione alle epidemie \u2013 per lo sviluppo di una piattaforma vaccinale che fosse preparata ad affrontare l\u2019esplosione di nuove epidemie. Quando \u00e8 scoppiata l\u2019attuale pandemia, abbiamo deciso di riconvertire il nostro vettore del gorilla per un vaccino contro il virus SARS-CoV-2.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riccardo Cortese \u00e8 venuto a mancare<\/a> nel 2017. Alfredo Nicosia ha guidato ReiThera fino al 2019, quando ha deciso di ritornare a insegnare all\u2019Universit\u00e0 Federico II di Napoli. Tuttavia, una nuova generazione di scienziati sta contribuendo a sviluppare e migliorare ulteriormente la tecnologia originale. Tra questi c\u2019\u00e8 un altro ex ricercatore dell’EMBL, Angelo Raggioli, che dal 2019 \u00e8 responsabile della Vettorologia in ReiThera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIl mio lavoro in ReiThera \u00e8 molto simile a quello che svolgevo all’EMBL di Roma,\u201d dice Angelo, che ha sviluppato il vettore attualmente utilizzato per la sperimentazione di GRAd-COV2 – il vaccino di ReiThera contro COVID-19. \u201cL’unica differenza \u00e8 che qui lavoriamo tutti verso un unico obiettivo, mentre all’EMBL collaboravamo a progetti diversi. Lavorando in un\u2019azienda, sono pi\u00f9 limitato nel tipo di reagenti che posso utilizzare, in quanto molti sono coperti da brevetto. D\u2019altra parte, qui per me \u00e8 molto stimolante pensare alle implicazioni pratiche della mia ricerca.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Il cerchio si chiude<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Riccardo e i suoi colleghi hanno contribuito a fomentare lo spirito innovativo e dinamico che caratterizza l\u2019EMBL, uno spirito che hanno poi riportato in Italia e alimentato nel corso delle loro carriere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cL’EMBL mi ha dato l’opportunit\u00e0 di misurare le mie capacit\u00e0 e di condividere le mie esperienze,\u201d dice Alfredo Nicosia. \u201cMi ha dato accesso a strumenti e conoscenze e a un’incredibile gamma di competenze. Ha radicato in me una cultura di comunit\u00e0 aperta, che ho adottato per tutta la vita, mettendo in collegamento le persone e sviluppando idee. La difficolt\u00e0 sta nel far partire le cose, come diceva sempre Riccardo.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The story of a life-long friendship and a professional partnership that sowed the seeds for a ground-breaking vaccine technology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":34872,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,17591],"tags":[80,1331,650,514,5658],"embl_taxonomy":[2278,9788],"class_list":["post-34870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-science-technology","tag-alumni","tag-covid-19","tag-italy","tag-rome","tag-vaccine","embl_taxonomy-covid-19","embl_taxonomy-embl-rome"],"acf":{"featured":true,"show_featured_image":false,"color":"#007B53","link_color":"#fff","article_intro":"

A group of Italian EMBL alumni developed a key technology behind some of the most promising COVID-19 vaccines<\/p>\n","related_links":false,"article_sources":false,"in_this_article":false,"youtube_url":"","mp4_url":"","video_caption":"","press_contact":"None","translations":[{"translation_language":"Catalan","translation_anchor":"#italian"}],"embl_taxonomy_term_who":5426,"embl_taxonomy_term_what":3722,"embl_taxonomy_term_where":2098,"vf_locked":false},"embl_taxonomy_terms":[{"uuid":"a:3:{i:0;s:36:\"302cfdf7-365b-462a-be65-82c7b783ebf7\";i:1;s:36:\"a5d0c484-f12a-4a27-93cc-85e3a6d79c09\";i:2;s:36:\"5683518e-43cd-4740-8583-31a65ef324d3\";}","parents":[],"name":["COVID-19"],"slug":"covid-19","description":"What > Topics > COVID-19"},{"uuid":"a:3:{i:0;s:36:\"b14d3f13-5670-44fb-8970-e54dfd9c921a\";i:1;s:36:\"89e00fee-87f4-482e-a801-4c3548bb6a58\";i:2;s:36:\"741d5d3d-f92f-4eb8-9195-55c96454a36b\";}","parents":[],"name":["EMBL Rome"],"slug":"embl-rome","description":"Where > All EMBL sites > EMBL Rome"}],"yoast_head":"\nHow EMBL alumni created a groundbreaking vaccine technology | EMBL<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The story of a life-long friendship and a professional partnership that sowed the seeds for a ground-breaking vaccine technology.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How EMBL alumni created a groundbreaking vaccine technology | EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The story of a life-long friendship and a professional partnership that sowed the seeds for a ground-breaking vaccine technology.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMBL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-21T10:51:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-22T10:32:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/visual.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rossana De Lorenzi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@embl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rossana De Lorenzi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rossana De Lorenzi\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/09fbcca4054ca2db027d0e970b2f1296\"},\"headline\":\"How EMBL alumni created a groundbreaking vaccine technology\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-21T10:51:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-22T10:32:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/\"},\"wordCount\":2259,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/visual.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"alumni\",\"covid-19\",\"italy\",\"rome\",\"vaccine\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni\",\"Science & Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/\",\"name\":\"How EMBL alumni created a groundbreaking vaccine technology | EMBL\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/visual.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-21T10:51:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-22T10:32:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"The story of a life-long friendship and a professional partnership that sowed the seeds for a ground-breaking vaccine technology.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/visual.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/visual.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"Artists depiction of adenovirus and a vaccine vial. IMAGE: AdobeStock, edited by Aleksandra Krolik\/EMBL\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory News\",\"description\":\"News from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"EMBL News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory\",\"alternateName\":\"EMBL\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":144,\"caption\":\"European Molecular Biology Laboratory\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/embl\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embl_org\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/15813\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/emblmedia\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/09fbcca4054ca2db027d0e970b2f1296\",\"name\":\"Rossana De Lorenzi\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/45aa5c216d9e39f295602eaf6a3ca9e1b94fc24b87ecd09b1afda3534360a2a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/45aa5c216d9e39f295602eaf6a3ca9e1b94fc24b87ecd09b1afda3534360a2a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rossana De Lorenzi\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/author\/delorenzi-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How EMBL alumni created a groundbreaking vaccine technology | EMBL","description":"The story of a life-long friendship and a professional partnership that sowed the seeds for a ground-breaking vaccine technology.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How EMBL alumni created a groundbreaking vaccine technology | EMBL","og_description":"The story of a life-long friendship and a professional partnership that sowed the seeds for a ground-breaking vaccine technology.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/","og_site_name":"EMBL","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/","article_published_time":"2020-12-21T10:51:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-03-22T10:32:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/visual.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rossana De Lorenzi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@embl","twitter_site":"@embl","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rossana De Lorenzi","Est. reading time":"11 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/"},"author":{"name":"Rossana De Lorenzi","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/09fbcca4054ca2db027d0e970b2f1296"},"headline":"How EMBL alumni created a groundbreaking vaccine technology","datePublished":"2020-12-21T10:51:01+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-22T10:32:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/"},"wordCount":2259,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/visual.jpg","keywords":["alumni","covid-19","italy","rome","vaccine"],"articleSection":["Alumni","Science & Technology"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/","name":"How EMBL alumni created a groundbreaking vaccine technology | EMBL","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/visual.jpg","datePublished":"2020-12-21T10:51:01+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-22T10:32:56+00:00","description":"The story of a life-long friendship and a professional partnership that sowed the seeds for a ground-breaking vaccine technology.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/alumni\/how-embl-alumni-created-a-groundbreaking-vaccine-technology\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/visual.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/visual.jpg","width":1000,"height":600,"caption":"Artists depiction of adenovirus and a vaccine vial. IMAGE: AdobeStock, edited by Aleksandra Krolik\/EMBL"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/","name":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory News","description":"News from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization"},"alternateName":"EMBL News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#organization","name":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory","alternateName":"EMBL","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/EMBL_logo_colour-1-300x144-1.png","width":300,"height":144,"caption":"European Molecular Biology Laboratory"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/embl.org\/","https:\/\/x.com\/embl","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embl_org\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/15813\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/emblmedia\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/09fbcca4054ca2db027d0e970b2f1296","name":"Rossana De Lorenzi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/45aa5c216d9e39f295602eaf6a3ca9e1b94fc24b87ecd09b1afda3534360a2a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/45aa5c216d9e39f295602eaf6a3ca9e1b94fc24b87ecd09b1afda3534360a2a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rossana De Lorenzi"},"url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/author\/delorenzi-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/"}]}},"field_target_display":"embl","field_article_language":{"value":"english","label":"English"},"fimg_url":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/visual.jpg","featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/visual.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34870"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38364,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34870\/revisions\/38364"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34870"},{"taxonomy":"embl_taxonomy","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/embl_taxonomy?post=34870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}