Abstract
There is an ongoing global effort to design, manufacture, and clinically assess vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. Over the course of the ongoing pandemic a number of new SARS-CoV-2 virus isolates or variants of concern (VoC) have been identified containing mutations in key proteins. In this study we describe the generation and preclinical assessment of a ChAdOx1-vectored vaccine (AZD2816) which expresses the spike protein of the Beta VoC (B.1.351). We demonstrate that AZD2816 is immunogenic after a single dose. When AZD2816 is used as a booster dose in animals primed with a vaccine encoding the original spike protein (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/ [AZD1222]), high titre binding and neutralising antibodies against Beta (B.1.351), Gamma (P.1) and Delta (B.1.617.2) are induced. In addition, a strong and polyfunctional T cell response was measured in these booster regimens. These data support the ongoing clinical development and testing of this new variant vaccine.
Competing Interest Statement
SCG is co-founder and board member of Vaccitech and named as an inventor on a patent covering use of ChAdOx1-vectored vaccines and a patent application covering the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) vaccine. TL is named as an inventor on a patent application covering the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) vaccine and was consultant to Vaccitech. PM was an employee of AstraZeneca, KR is an employee of AstraZeneca. HB is an employee of AstraZeneca and is a named inventor on a patent application covering the AZD2816 vaccine.
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