Faculty Opinions recommendation of Rapid development of an inactivated vaccine candidate for SARS-CoV-2.

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated intense interest in the rapid development and evaluation of vaccine candidates for this disease and other emerging diseases. Several novel methods for preparing vaccine candidates are currently undergoing clinical evaluation in response to the urgent need to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In many cases, these methods rely on new approaches for vaccine production and immune stimulation. We report on the use of a novel method (SolaVAX) for production of an inactivated vaccine candidate and the testing of that candidate in a hamster animal model for its ability to prevent infection upon challenge with SARS-CoV-2 virus. The studies employed in this work included an evaluation of the levels of neutralizing antibody produced post-vaccination, levels of specific antibody sub-types to RBD and spike protein that were generated, evaluation of viral shedding post-challenge, flow cytometric and single cell sequencing data on cellular fractions and histopathological evaluation of tissues post-challenge. The results from this preliminary evaluation provide insight into the immunological responses occurring as a result of vaccination with the proposed vaccine candidate and the impact that adjuvant formulations, specifically developed to promote Th1 type immune responses, have on vaccine efficacy and protection against infection following challenge with live SARS-CoV-2. This data may have utility in the development of effective vaccine candidates broadly. Furthermore, the results of this preliminary evaluation suggest that preparation of a whole virion vaccine for COVID-19 using this specific photochemical method may have potential utility in the preparation of one such vaccine candidate.

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Rapid Development of an Effective Newcastle Disease Virus Vaccine Candidate by Attenuation of a Genotype VII Velogenic Isolate Using a Simple Infectious Cloning System

Frontiers in Veterinary Science ◽

10.3389/fvets.2020.00648 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

Author(s):

Nannan Wang ◽

Mei Huang ◽

To Sing Fung ◽

Qiong Luo ◽

Jun Xian Ye ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Newcastle Disease Virus ◽

Disease Virus ◽

Virus Vaccine ◽

Newcastle Disease ◽

Vaccine Candidate ◽

Rapid Development ◽

Cloning System ◽

Genotype Vii ◽

Newcastle Disease Virus Vaccine

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Low toxicity and high immunogenicity of an inactivated vaccine candidate against COVID-19 in different animal models

Emerging Microbes & Infections ◽

10.1080/22221751.2020.1852059 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 2606-2618

Author(s):

Ze-Jun Wang ◽

Hua-Jun Zhang ◽

Jia Lu ◽

Kang-Wei Xu ◽

Cheng Peng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Animal Models ◽

Vaccine Candidate ◽

Inactivated Vaccine ◽

Low Toxicity ◽

High Immunogenicity

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A hollow-fiber bioreactor for expanding HIV-1 in human lymphocytes used in preparing an inactivated vaccine candidate

Biologicals ◽

10.1016/j.biologicals.2007.04.002 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 35 (4) ◽

pp. 227-233 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Maggie Leong ◽

William Babbitt ◽

Girish Vyas

Keyword(s):

Hollow Fiber ◽

Vaccine Candidate ◽

Human Lymphocytes ◽

Inactivated Vaccine ◽

Hollow Fiber Bioreactor ◽

Hiv 1

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PRAK-03202: A triple antigen VLP vaccine candidate against SARS CoV-2

10.1101/2020.10.30.360115 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Saumyabrata Mazumder ◽

Ruchir Rastogi ◽

Avinash Undale ◽

Kajal Arora ◽

Nupur Mehrotra Arora ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neutralizing Antibodies ◽

Vaccine Candidate ◽

Rapid Development ◽

Humoral Response ◽

T Helper 1 ◽

Cellular Immune Responses ◽

Ifn Γ ◽

Neutralizing Potential ◽

Cellular Immune ◽

Different Doses

AbstractThe rapid development of safe and effective vaccines against SARS CoV-2 is the need of the hour for the coronavirus outbreak. Here, we have developed PRAK-03202, the world’s first triple antigen VLP vaccine candidate in a highly characterized S. cerevisiae-based D-CryptTM platform, which induced SARS CoV-2 specific neutralizing antibodies in BALB/c mice. Immunizations using three different doses of PRAK-03202 induces antigen specific (Spike, envelope and membrane proteins) humoral response and neutralizing potential. PBMCs from convalescent patients, when exposed to PRAK-03202, showed lymphocyte proliferation and elevated IFN-γ levels suggestive of conservation of epitopes and induction of T helper 1 (Th1)–biased cellular immune responses. These data support the clinical development and testing of PRAK-03202 for use in humans.

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Rapid development of SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain-conjugated nanoparticle vaccine candidate

10.1101/2020.11.03.366138 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yin-Feng Kang ◽

Cong Sun ◽

Zhen Zhuang ◽

Run-Yu Yuan ◽

Qing-Bing Zheng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Receptor Binding ◽

Vaccine Development ◽

Vaccine Candidate ◽

Rapid Development ◽

Scale Up ◽

Physical Stability ◽

Covalent Bond ◽

Neutralizing Antibody ◽

Economic Losses

AbstractThe ongoing of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, resulting in economic losses and seriously threating the human health in worldwide, highlighting the urgent need of a stabilized, easily produced and effective preventive vaccine. The SARS-COV-2 spike protein receptor binding region (RBD) plays an important role in the process of viral binding receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and membrane fusion, making it an ideal target for vaccine development. In this study, we designed three different RBD-conjugated nanoparticles vaccine candidates, RBD-Ferritin (24-mer), RBD-mi3 (60-mer) and RBD-I53-50 (120-mer), with the application of covalent bond linking by SpyTag-SpyCatcher system. It was demonstrated that the neutralizing capability of sera from mice immunized with three RBD-conjugated nanoparticles adjuvanted with AddaVax or Sigma Systerm Adjuvant (SAS) after each immunization was ~8-to 120-fold greater than monomeric RBD group in SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus and authentic virus neutralization assay. Most importantly, sera from RBD-conjugated NPs groups more efficiently blocked the binding of RBD to ACE2 or neutralizing antibody in vitro, a further proof of promising immunization effect. Besides, high physical stability and flexibility in assembly consolidated the benefit for rapid scale-up production of vaccine. These results supported that our designed SARS-CoV-2 RBD-conjugated nanoparticle was competitive vaccine candidate and the carrier nanoparticles could be adopted as universal platform for future vaccine development.

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