Development of recombinant COVID-19 vaccine based on CHO-produced, prefusion spike trimer and alum/CpG adjuvants. Issue 48 (26th November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liu, Haitao; Zhou, Chenliang; An, Jiao; Song, Yujiao; Yu, Pin; Li, Jiadai; Gu, Chenjian; Hu, Dongdong; Jiang, Yuanxiang; Zhang, Lingli; Huang, Chuanqi; Zhang, Chao; Yang, Yunqi; Zhu, Qianjun; Wang, Dekui; Liu, Yuqiang; Miao, Chenyang; Cao, Xiayao; Ding, Longfei; Zhu, Yuanfei; Zhu, Hua; Bao, Linlin; Zhou, Lingyun; Yan, Huan; Fan, Jiang; Xu, Jianqing; Hu, Zhongyu; Xie, Youhua; Liu, Jiangning; Liu, Ge
• Is Part Of: Vaccine. Volume 39:Issue 48(2021)
• Page Start: 7001
• Page End: 7011
• Publication Date: 2021-11-26
• Subjects: SARS-CoV-2 -- Trimeric spike protein -- Subunit vaccine; Vaccines -- Periodicals; 615.372
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.10.066
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0264-410X

Abstract

Abstract: COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted the public health and social economy worldwide. A safe, effective, and affordable vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 infections/diseases is urgently needed. We have been developing a recombinant vaccine based on a prefusion-stabilized spike trimer of SARS-CoV-2 and formulated with aluminium hydroxide and CpG 7909. The spike protein was expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, purified, and prepared as a stable formulation with the dual adjuvant. Immunogenicity studies showed that candidate vaccines elicited robust neutralizing antibody responses and substantial CD4 + T cell responses in both mice and non-human primates. And vaccine-induced neutralizing antibodies persisted at high level for at least 6 months. Challenge studies demonstrated that candidate vaccine reduced the viral loads and inflammation in the lungs of SARS-CoV-2 infected golden Syrian hamsters significantly. In addition, the vaccine-induced antibodies showed cross-neutralization activity against B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants. These data suggest candidate vaccine is efficacious in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections and associated pneumonia, thereby justifying ongoing phase I/II clinical studies in China (NCT04982068 and NCT04990544).