Nanoparticle Coronavirus Vaccine Designed Via Computer

Ultrapotent nanoparticle COVID-19 vaccine candidate produces neutralizing antibodies in mice at levels ten-times greater in people who have recovered from the novel coronavirus infection.

It is designed by scientists at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. It produced ten times more neutralizing antibodies in mice.

Strong B-cell response is seen after immunization, targeting multiple different sites on the Spike protein. This may ensure protection against mutated strains of the virus.

‘New vaccine's potency, stability, and manufacturability differentiate it from many other vaccines under investigation.’
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The findings are published in Cell. The lead authors of this paper are Alexandra Walls, a research scientist in the laboratory of David Veesler, who is an associate professor of biochemistry at the UW School of Medicine; and Brooke Fiala, a research scientist in the laboratory of Neil King, who is an assistant professor of biochemistry at the UW School of Medicine.

It was developed using structure-based vaccine design techniques invented at UW Medicine. It is a self-assembling protein nanoparticle that displays 60 copies of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein's receptor-binding domain in a highly immunogenic array.

"We hope that our nanoparticle platform may help fight this pandemic that is causing so much damage to our world," said King, inventor of the computational vaccine design technology at the Institute for Protein Design at UW Medicine.

"The potency, stability, and manufacturability of this vaccine candidate differentiate it from many others under investigation."

Many vaccine candidates require large doses, complex manufacturing, and cold-chain shipping and storage. An ultrapotent vaccine that is safe, effective at low doses, simple to produce and stable outside of a freezer could enable vaccination against COVID-19 on a global scale.

"I am delighted that our studies of antibody responses to coronaviruses led to the design of this promising vaccine candidate," said Veesler, who spearheaded the concept of a multivalent receptor-binding domain-based vaccine.

Source: Medindia

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