The majority of vaccines are currently administered via sub-cutaneous injection, often requiring considerable patient pain and discomfort, both at the time of injection and for several days later. In contrast, the oral route of administration of vaccines is a much more attractive means of delivery due to the ease of administration, increased patient comfort and ease of access, particularly in developing countries, and in countries where it is very difficult to establish a "cold chain" for vaccine storage. Whilst there has been considerable research that has been aimed at producing edible vaccines, these genetically modified vaccines suffer from the disadvantage that they are currently non-adjuvanted, and as such only stimulate a very low level of immunity. 

Early studies on oral vaccines using lectin-like molecules established that a wide range of carrier proteins are suitable for use as carriers for oral vaccines. Additional studies have shown that it is possible to use these orally active carriers to coat nanoparticle systems that potentially can be modified to incorporate a strong adjuvant, thus enhancing their utility as oral vaccine carriers.

Binding of targeting agent to GIT epithelium	Uptake of targeted nanoparticles	Targeted nanoparticles in the Mesenteric LN

Mentor can provide technical advice on

• The identification of targeting molecules.

• The synthesis of conjugates.

• The preparation of targeted nanoparticles containing the pharmaceuticals.

• Incorporation of adjuvants within the nanoparticle systems

• Appropriate in vitro and in vivo models.