Danmei Su, Xinglin Li, Xueqin Huang, Cui He, Cheng Zeng, Qiang Wang, Wenchang Qin, Zhongquan Mu, Donna Ambrosino, George Siber, Ralf Clemens, Joshua G. Liang, Peng Liang, Nick Jackson and Rong Xu*
The Omicron variant of SARS-COV-2 (GISAID GRA clade (B.1.1.529, BA.1 and BA.2)) is now the single dominant Variant Of Concern (VOC). The high number of mutations in the Omicron Spike (S) protein promotes humoral immunological escape. Although a third homologous boost with S, derived from the ancestral strain, was able to increase neutralizing antibody titers and breadth including to Omicron, the magnitude of virus neutralization could benefit from further optimization. Moreover, combining SARS-COV-2 strains as additional valences may address the current antigenicity range occupied by VOCs.
Using Trimer-TagTM platform we have previously demonstrated phase 3 efficacy and safety of a prototypic vaccine SCB-2019 in the SPECTRA trial and have submitted applications for licensure. Here, we successfully generated a bivalent vaccine candidate including both Ancestor and Omicron variant S-proteins. Preclinical studies demonstrate this SARS-CoV-2 bivalent S-Trimer™ subunit vaccine elicits high titers of neutralizing antibodies against all VOCs, with markedly enhanced Omicron specific neutralizing antibody responses.
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Virology: Current Research received 187 citations as per Google Scholar report
