Immunogenicity of an AAV-based, room-temperature stable, single dose COVID-19 vaccine in mice and non-human primates
Summary
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has affected more than 70 million people worldwide and resulted in over 1.5 million deaths. A broad deployment of effective immunization campaigns to achieve population immunity at global scale will depend on the biological and logistical attributes of the vaccine. Here, two adeno-associated viral (AAV)-based vaccine candidates demonstrate potent immunogenicity in mouse and nonhuman primates following a single injection. Peak neutralizing antibody titers remain sustained at 5 months and are complemented by functional memory T-cells responses. The AAVrh32.33 capsid of the AAVCOVID vaccine is an engineered AAV to which no relevant pre-existing immunity exists in humans. Moreover, the vaccine is stable at room temperature for at least one month and is produced at high yields using established commercial manufacturing processes in the gene therapy industry. Thus, this methodology holds as a very promising single dose, thermostable vaccine platform well-suited to address emerging pathogens on a global scale.
Competing Interest Statement
JMW is a paid advisor to and holds equity in Scout Bio and Passage Bio; he holds equity in Surmount Bio; he also has sponsored research agreements with Amicus Therapeutics, Biogen, Elaaj Bio, Janssen, Moderna, Passage Bio, Regeneron, Scout Bio, Surmount Bio, and Ultragenyx, which are licensees of Penn technology. LHV and JMW are inventors on patents that have been licensed to various biopharmaceutical companies and for which they may receive payments. MWF is a paid consultant to 5AM Ventures and to Mitobridge/Astellas. LHV is a paid advisor to Novartis, Akouos, Affinia Therapeutics and serves on the Board of Directors of Affinia, Addgene and Odylia Therapeutics. LHV holds equity in Akouos and Affinia and receives sponsored research funding from Albamunity Inc. to which he is an unpaid consultant.
Subject Area
- Biochemistry (11745)
- Bioengineering (8751)
- Bioinformatics (29195)
- Biophysics (14971)
- Cancer Biology (12095)
- Cell Biology (17411)
- Clinical Trials (138)
- Developmental Biology (9421)
- Ecology (14179)
- Epidemiology (2067)
- Evolutionary Biology (18306)
- Genetics (12245)
- Genomics (16802)
- Immunology (11867)
- Microbiology (28083)
- Molecular Biology (11592)
- Neuroscience (60965)
- Paleontology (451)
- Pathology (1870)
- Pharmacology and Toxicology (3238)
- Physiology (4959)
- Plant Biology (10427)
- Synthetic Biology (2885)
- Systems Biology (7339)
- Zoology (1651)