‘All-In-One’ Vaccine Could Protect Against Future Covid-19 Variants, Researchers Say

Topline

An “all-in-one” vaccine currently in development could protect people from future Covid-19 variants, as well as SARS, MERS and new strains of other coronaviruses from other animals, a study by researchers at the California Institute of Technology found.

Image courtesy of Wellcome Leap, Caltech, and Merkin Institute

Key Facts

The study, published Thursday in the journal Science, was done by scientists at Caltech and the University of Oxford who are working on developing the mosaic-8 vaccine, which aims to offer protection to a variety of coronaviruses

Researchers tested mice vaccinated with the Covid-19 shots as well as the mosaic-8 vaccine and found unvaccinated mice died when infected with SARS or Covid-19, while mice vaccinated only against Covid-19 survived the virus, but not SARS, and mice given the mosaic-8 vaccine survived both viruses.

The mosaic-8 vaccine uses 60 fragments of eight strains of coronaviruses, including Covid-19, which was shown to induce a “broad spectrum” of antibodies in primates and genetically-engineered mice with human-like cell receptors to target coronavirus “spike proteins.”

The nanoparticle development has the potential to mitigate viral infection caused by known and future Covid-19 variants and other “viral spillovers,” according to the study.

Caltech, which conducted the research in collaboration with WellCome Leap, is expected to start phase-one clinical trials over the next year using $30 million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.

Key Background

A similar experiment conducted at Caltech last year showed that the mosaic-8 vaccine induces mice to produce antibodies that react to a variety of coronaviruses in a lab dish. The research comes nearly two months after a study in JAMA Network Open found immunity against the omicron variant fades rapidly after a second and third dose of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine. A study published in April by researchers at Johns Hopkins University found booster shots did not stop coronavirus spike proteins from binding to cells as well in omicron cases as it did with other strains. Two weeks ago, however, clinical data on Moderna’s vaccine booster – aimed at the original Covid-19 and the omicron strain – found the booster provided a “potent” antibody response against two omicron subvariants.

Crucial Quote

Caltech biology professor Pamela Bjorkman said in the study, “We can’t predict which virus or viruses among the vast numbers in animals will evolve in the future to infect humans to cause another epidemic or pandemic.”

What To Watch For

Pfizer and Moderna are waiting for final approval from the Food and Drug Administration on omicron-specific boosters, which they intend to release this fall. Last week, the FDA announced any new boosters need to protect people from the newest omicron-related strains. Pharmaceutical companies Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline also announced last month they intend to launch a vaccine later this year to target the omicron variant, after studies showed it had a 65% efficacy rate when used as a first and second shot, and a 5% rate on adults who had previously been infected.

Big Number

20 million. That’s how many people Covid-19 vaccines are estimated to have saved during the first year the vaccines were released, according to a study published two weeks ago in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.