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BCG vaccine

✓ Approved

Microgen · Vaccine · Vaccine

What is BCG vaccine?

BCG vaccine is a vaccine developed by Microgen. It is approved for therapeutic indications via injectable (others) or intradermal injection.

Drug Profile

CompanyMicrogen
Drug ClassVaccine
RouteInjectable (Others), Intradermal Injection
StatusApproved
Sources: ClinicalTrials.gov, Microgen

Related Research Articles

PubMedBladder cancer (Amsterdam, Netherlands)2026-08-25

Intra- and extravesical recurrence after epirubicin-based hyperthermic intravesical chemotherapy (HIVEC) in patients with NMIBC and BCG failure: A multicenter retrospective Observational Study.

Arnold Nicolas N, Blanc Julien J, Lucca Ilaria I, Vartolomei Mihai Dorin MD et al.

Guidelines recommend intravesical Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) as adjuvant therapy for intermediate- and high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer after transurethral resection. In the event of BCG failure, hyperthermic intravesical chemotherapy (HIVEC) represents a treatment alternative to patients who are surgically inoperable, or decline radical cystectomy. The aim of this study was to evaluate oncological outcomes in patients receiving epirubicin-based HIVEC as a second-line therapeutic approach. Retrospective inclusion of patients from our prospectively maintained, multicenter HIVEC database, who underwent HIVEC due to recurrent or persistent high-grade NMIBC following adequate BCG therapy (BCG failure) between November 2016 and December 2024. Survival was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier analysis and log-rank testing. Associations between clinicopathological factors and oncological outcomes were assessed using Cox regression analysis. Sixty-five patients were included. Median follow-up was 38 months (IQR 21-55). Twenty-four patients (36.9%) experienced intravesical recurrence with a median intravesical recurrence-free survival (RFS) of 24 months (IQR 9-45) and 1-/2-year intravesical RFS rates of 77.9% and 64.1%, respectively. Extravesical recurrence was observed in 21 patients (32.3%) with a median extravesical RFS of 22 months (IQR 7-43) and 1-/2-year extravesical RFS rates of 81.3% and 70.9%, respectively. Higher number of recurrences prior to HIVEC were significantly associated with extravesical recurrence in univariate (HR 2.23; 95% CI 1.23-3.87; p=0.019) and multivariate analysis (HR 1.31; 95% CI 1.03-1.67; p=0.027). Although limited by the relatively small sample size, Epirubicin-based HIVEC demonstrated promising oncological outcomes indicating its potential value as bladder-preserving treatment option after BCG failure. Prospective controlled studies are warranted to further assess the role of epirubicin-based HIVEC in this setting.

PMID 42639117
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PubMedScientific reports2026-08-25

High-throughput in silico multi-epitope reverse vaccine design against hydatidosis.

Skhal Dania D, Al Nahhas Samar S, Skhal Osama O, Abbady Abdul Qader AQ

The Middle East is a significant hotspot for human hydatidosis caused by Echinococcus granulosus, a complex multi-stage pathogen exhibiting antigenic variation with diverse epitopes. Multi-epitope vaccines, designed using immunoinformatics, represent a promising approach to effectively control this challenging parasite. A total of 1150 secreted, non-toxic, antigenic proteins were obtained from database and analyzed for their immunogenic potential, leading to the identification of 1024 CTL, 80 HTL, and 172 LBL prioritized epitopes, which were then ranked and clustered to prefer the most immunogenicity epitopes to include in novel vaccine construct. The chosen Construct (Con2) was modified for dual-plasmid insertion, facilitating the expression of three different vaccine constructs which were predicted by C-ImmSim to stimulate robust IFN-γ/IL-2 production and enhance IgM/IgG antibody secretion. Utilizing in silico, next-generation vaccine design, we propose several vaccine candidates that warrant further validation through in vitro laboratory testing and in vivo studies to assess their immunological efficacy.

PMID 42637785
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PubMedJournal of medical virology2026-08-25

Enhanced Immunogenicity and Cross-Neutralizing Activity of a Trivalent Adenoviral Vector-Based SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine in Mice.

Li Jianhua J, Song Wanchen W, Li Jiaxuan J, Peng Ruofan R et al.

The emergence of diverse SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants has reduced the efficacy of existing vaccines, highlighting the need for multivalent vaccines with broader neutralizing capacity. We developed a trivalent adenoviral vector-based vaccine (Ad5-CoV19-prototype/Delta/BF.7) encoding the spike proteins of the ancestral strain, Delta variant, and Omicron BF.7 strain, and evaluated its immunogenicity in BALB/c mice. Four- to 6-week-old female BALB/c mice were intramuscularly immunized with 10 µg of monovalent or trivalent vaccines using single-dose or two-dose (2-week interval) regimens. Neutralizing antibody (nAb) titers against the ancestral strain, Omicron BA.5, and XBB.1.5, as well as IFN-γ+ T-cell responses, were measured. The trivalent vaccine elicited significantly higher nAb titers against the ancestral strain (GMT 2183.6 at week 8) and Omicron subvariants (BA.5: GMT 680.0; XBB.1.5: GMT 161.3) after two doses compared to monovalent vaccines. Two doses also enhanced IFN-γ+ CD8+ T-cell responses (p < 0.0001). These results demonstrate that the trivalent vaccine induces enhanced immunogenicity and cross-neutralizing activity, including improved cross-neutralizing antibody titers and IFN-γ+ T-cell responses against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants compared to monovalent formulations. These findings suggest potential for broader immune coverage against antigenically drifted variants, although protective efficacy remains to be confirmed in viral challenge models and further clinical evaluation.

PMID 42639828
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PubMedFrontiers in tuberculosis2026-08-25

A Mycobacterium tuberculosis rare variable antigen vaccine reduces lung pathology in hypersusceptible SP140-/- mice.

Howard Zachary P ZP, Mohapatra Alexander A, Zheng Weihao W, Ernst Joel D JD

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the leading cause of death globally due to a single infectious agent. Currently, no licensed vaccine protects against pulmonary tuberculosis, the primary adult disease caused by Mtb infection. CD4 T cells are essential in protection against Mtb infection and inducing a protective CD4 T cell response remains the goal of most Mtb vaccines currently in testing. However, in contrast to other pathogens, most Mtb T cell epitopes do not exhibit sequence variation, suggesting that T cell recognition does not drive selection of escape mutants. We discovered hypothetical Mtb antigens that do exhibit sequence diversity within human T cell epitopes and tested the impact of vaccination with these rare variable antigens (RVMA) using a DNA vaccine platform. We found vaccination with RVMA significantly alters the immune response to Mtb infection in both C57BL/6 and hypersusceptible SP140‒/‒ mice without reducing lung bacterial burdens. RVMA vaccination of hypersusceptible SP140‒/‒ animals prevented necrosis and altered the lesion composition reducing tissue damage and increasing CD4 T cell distribution. Reductions in pathology were associated with increases in RORγt-expressing CD4 T cells and decreases in monocyte-derived cells in the lungs prior to the development of necrotic lesions, and were independent of B cells. These results suggest T cell responses to certain antigens may be involved in preventing pathology without significantly changing bacterial burdens and indicate that these antigens can be efficacious in Prevention of Disease TB vaccines.

PMID 42638779
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PubMedVeterinary medicine and science2026-08-25

Rpf-Toxo: A Preliminary Computationally Designed Dense Granule Antigen-Based Multi-Epitope Vaccine Against Toxoplasma gondii.

Safari Mohamad Hosein MH, Hosseini Seyyed Amir SA, Ghiabi Shadan S, Ghiabi Shamim S et al.

Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite of medical and veterinary importance causing abortion. While current therapies are limited to address the chronic phase of infection, effective prophylactic vaccines are warranted. In this study, we applied a rational vaccine design approach centred around immunodominant dense granule antigens (GRAs). In silico epitope mapping was performed on six GRAs (GRA15, GRA60, GRA76, GRA83, GRA-α and GRA-β). Using web servers, B-cell, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte and helper T-lymphocyte epitopes were predicted and then filtered for antigenicity, solubility and allergenicity. We designed four vaccine constructs by fusing predicted epitopes with specific linkers and adjuvants (RS-09, RpfE/50S ribosomal protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and human interferon gamma [IFN-γ]). Constructs were subjected to rigorous evaluation, which included physicochemical evaluation, 3D structural prediction and refinement, toll-like receptor-4 (TLR-4) docking, immune simulation and codon adaptation. All candidates exhibited high antigenicity (VaxiJen scores > 0.9) and solubility (> 0.6). Rpf-Toxo emerged optimal, with non-allergenic, antigenic (0.9148), soluble (0.658), stable (instability index: 35.41) and hydrophilic (grand average of hydropathicity: -0.641) properties. Docking revealed strong TLR-4 binding activity (affinity: -20.6 kcal/mol; Kd: 7.3e-16 M) and immune simulation predicted robust responses, including antibody titers > 170,000, Th1-skewed IFN-γ (380,000 ng/mL) and memory cell activation; however, these in silico predictions need experimental validation. Codon optimization enhanced expression (CAI: 1.00; GC: 65.63%), and in silico cloning indicated compatibility with pET28a(+). These computational predictions require future experimental validation through in vitro and in vivo studies to confirm safety and protective efficacy.

PMID 42638180
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PubMedHuman vaccines & immunotherapeutics2026-08-25

How the unvaccinated have been portrayed in the urban English-language Canadian popular press since the declared end of the COVID-19 pandemic emergency.

Marcon Alessandro R AR, Boniface Vincenza V, Caulfield Timothy T

Since the WHO declared the end of the COVID-19 emergency in May 2023, public vaccination remains a complex issue intertwined with politicization and misinformation. This research article examined how the "unvaccinated" have been portrayed in the urban English-language Canadian popular press between May 2023 and May 2025, specifically comparing coverage of COVID-19 with the emerging 2024-2025 measles outbreaks. Through a content analysis of 308 articles from major national and urban news sources, the study reveals a dichotomy in journalistic framing. Findings indicate that COVID-19 reporting remained heavily politicized and rooted in ideological debates. These articles focused primarily on politics, mandate arguments, government critiques, and claims of discrimination against the unvaccinated, with only 40% mentioning unvaccinated health risks to oneself or others. In contrast, measles coverage adopted a more traditional public health lens; 96% of these articles characterized being unvaccinated as a health risk to oneself or others, frequently emphasizing vaccine importance and uptake strategies while largely avoiding broader socio-political issues. The study suggests that while the Canadian popular press successfully conveys scientific urgency in novel or acute health threats like measles, its continued focus on socio-political conflict regarding COVID-19 represents problematic science communication. Covering "agenda-setting" political narratives is an important aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic but should not dominate or stand in place of evolving clinical evidence on reinfection and vaccine efficacy. Depoliticizing scientific realities and reintegrating established health-risk data into all vaccine-related reporting is necessary for supporting public health in any infectious disease contexts.

PMID 42638279
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