RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 High activity of an affinity-matured ACE2 decoy against Omicron SARS-CoV-2 and pre-emergent coronaviruses
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2022.01.17.476672
DO 10.1101/2022.01.17.476672
A1 Joshua J. Sims
A1 Sharon Lian
A1 Rosemary L. Meggersee
A1 Aradhana Kasimsetty
A1 James M. Wilson
YR 2022
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/05/19/2022.01.17.476672.abstract
AB The viral genome of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), particularly its cell-binding spike protein gene, has undergone rapid evolution during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Variants including Omicron BA.1 and Omicron BA.2 now seriously threaten the efficacy of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies and vaccines that target the spike protein. Viral evolution over a much longer timescale has generated a wide range of genetically distinct sarbecoviruses in animal populations, including the pandemic viruses SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1. The genetic diversity and widespread zoonotic potential of this group complicates current attempts to develop drugs in preparation for the next sarbecovirus pandemic. Receptor-based decoy inhibitors can target a wide range of viral strains with a common receptor and may have intrinsic resistance to escape mutant generation and antigenic drift. We previously generated an affinity-matured decoy inhibitor based on the receptor target of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), and deployed it in a recombinant adeno-associated virus vector (rAAV) for intranasal delivery and passive prophylaxis against COVID-19. Here, we demonstrate the exceptional binding and neutralizing potency of this ACE2 decoy against SARS-CoV-2 variants including Omicron BA.1 and Omicron BA.2. Tight decoy binding tracks with human ACE2 binding of viral spike receptor-binding domains across diverse clades of coronaviruses. Furthermore, in a coronavirus that cannot bind human ACE2, a variant that acquired human ACE2 binding was bound by the decoy with nanomolar affinity. Considering these results, we discuss a strategy of decoy-based treatment and passive protection to mitigate the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and future airway virus threats.Author Summary Viral sequences can change dramatically during pandemics lasting multiple years. Likewise, evolution over centuries has generated genetically diverse virus families posing similar threats to humans. This variation presents a challenge to drug development, in both the breadth of achievable protection against related groups of viruses and the durability of therapeutic agents or vaccines during extended outbreaks. This phenomenon has played out dramatically during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The highly divergent Omicron variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have upended previous gains won by vaccine and monoclonal antibody development. Moreover, ecological surveys have increasingly revealed a broad class of SARS-CoV-2-like viruses in animals, each poised to cause a future human pandemic. Here, we evaluate an alternative to antibody-based protection and prevention—a decoy molecule based on the SARS-CoV-2 receptor. Our engineered decoy has proven resistant to SARS-CoV-2 evolution during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and can neutralize all variants of concern, including Omicron BA.1 and Omicron BA.2. Furthermore, the decoy binds tightly to a broad class of sarbecoviruses related to pandemic SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1, indicating that receptor decoys offer advantages over monoclonal antibodies and may be deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic and future coronavirus outbreaks to prevent and treat severe illness.Competing Interest StatementJ.M.W. is a paid advisor to and holds equity in Scout Bio and Passage Bio. He also holds equity in the G2 Bio-associated asset companies and iECURE. He has sponsored research agreements with Amicus Therapeutics, Biogen, Elaaj Bio, FA212, G2 Bio, G2 Bio-associated asset companies, iECURE, Janssen, Passage Bio, and Scout Bio, which are licensees of Penn technology. J.M.W. and J.J.S. are inventors on patents that have been licensed to various biopharmaceutical companies and for which they may receive payments.