Scientists from the City of Hope found a new COVID-19 vaccine that produced a robust neutralizing antibody and T cell response against COVID-19 with no significant side effects.
The research is published in The Lancet Microbe and was conducted by John Zaia et al.
COH04S1 is uniquely different than the many vaccines that have been developed because it targets both the spike and nucleocapsid proteins.
This is in contrast to the current U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved COVID-19 vaccines, which only target the spike protein.
COH04S1 is being studied in a first-of-its-kind clinical trial for immunocompromised cancer patients who have difficulty producing antibodies and largely depend on T cells to protect against the virus responsible for COVID-19.
Likewise, COH04S1 is also being evaluated in a Phase 2 vaccine booster trial format, which is aimed at evaluating how COH04S1 can boost pre-existing vaccine immunity to spike while also causing a strong immune response to nucleocapsid.
The team found COH04S1 elicited neutralizing antibodies against the virus’ spike protein, which interacts with the human cellular ACE2 receptor, allowing the virus to enter cells of the lung, heart, and other organs, resulting in damage and significant inflammation.
These neutralizing antibodies were effective against the original SARS-CoV-2 and subsequent viral variants. T cells were produced against the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein, as well as its spike protein, after just one dose of COH04S1.
The team says this data confirms the powerful dual action of the vaccine.
Given the multiple mutations in spike, leading to variants of concern and inconsistent protection from existing FDA-approved vaccines, they are excited about our approach incorporating two antigens in one vaccine.
They believe a person vaccinated with the new vaccine would still have substantial T cell immunity against both the nucleocapsid and spike antigens that would protect them from the ravages of COVID-19.
The T cell response is especially important for immunocompromised cancer patients as they can readily lose the ability to produce antibodies during and after chemotherapy or other treatments that deplete antibody-producing cells.
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