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. 2023 Feb 9;19(2):e1011115.
doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1011115. eCollection 2023 Feb.

Host populations, challenges, and commercialization of cryptococcal vaccines

Maurizio Del Poeta  1   2   3   4 , Floyd L Wormley Jr  5 , Xiaorong Lin  6
Affiliations

Host populations, challenges, and commercialization of cryptococcal vaccines

Maurizio Del Poeta et al. PLoS Pathog. .

Abstract

Vaccines are one of the most effective public health tools to prevent and manage infectious diseases. Since the first clinical use of vaccines in the late 18th century, many vaccines have been successfully developed to combat bacterial and viral infections, including the most recent Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, there remains no vaccine that is clinically available to treat or prevent invasive fungal diseases, including cryptococcal meningoencephalitis. This fungal disease is uniformly fatal without treatment and has a global mortality rate of over 70%. Despite a dire need for an effective cryptococcal vaccine, there are many scientific and economic challenges to overcome prior to making it a reality. Here, we discuss some of these challenges as well as steps that the community is taking for commercialization of effective cryptococcal vaccines.

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Conflict of interest statement

I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: Dr. Maurizio Del Poeta, M.D., is a Co-Founder and the Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of MicroRid Technologies Inc.

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