Are we close to developing a variant-proof Covid-19 vaccine?

By using a “different design of protein” DIOSynVax hopes its vaccine can be used to “provide variant-proof protection, but also potentially be kept ready to use in the event of another coronavirus pandemic”, said The Times. It could also possibly be delivered through using a “tweaked” Pfizer or Oxford vaccine platform.

CBS News reported last month that T-cells generated as part of the body’s natural immune response to the common cold may provide a breakthrough. Researchers at Imperial College London said a study could help scientists create vaccines that remain more effective against new variants of the coronavirus.

They found that 26 people who were exposed to Covid-19 but did not fall ill had significantly higher cross-reactive T-cells, generated by previous common colds, than those who did become ill with Covid.

“The fact that (the T-cells) can attack the internal proteins of each of these related viruses [COVID-19 variants] means that they give what’s called a broad cross-protection,” Professor Aljit Lalvani said. “That’s in sharp contrast to the surface spike protein, which is the target of antibodies induced by [current] vaccines.”

He said the study’s results are “a definitive green light” to develop a “T-cell inducing vaccine to internal core proteins, which should protect against current and future variants”.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the US military is also testing a vaccine designed to protect against all variants, reported Quartz.

The Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle (SpFN) vaccine was successfully tested on animals last year and phase one trials had positive results that are under review, said one of the team. Next, it will undergo phase two and phase three trials where researchers can determine its efficacy.

Elsewhere in the US, Barton Haynes, director of the Human Vaccine Institute at Duke University School of Medicine, and his team are working on a vaccine that triggers neutralising antibodies and other immune responses to all the Sars-Cov-2 variants to date. Haynes hopes it will also work against variants that appear in the near future.

However, a variant-proof jab is not expected any time soon. Cepi’s aim is to have proof of concept for such a jab “in the 2023 timeframe”. Melanie Saville, director of vaccine research and development, told the FT it would then take another year or two to be licensed for use.

Therefore, for a truly protective vaccine, “we’re really looking in the timeframe of 2024 to 2025… so it is a long haul”, she added. Anthony Fauci, US president Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, agreed that it will take a while. “You’re not going to hit a home run the first time up, that’s for sure,” he said.

Article source: https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/world-news/955720/variant-proof-covid-19-vaccine