New vaccine technology could protect from future viruses and variants

Studies of a 'future-proof' vaccine candidate have shown that just one antigen can be modified to provide a broadly protective immune response in animals. The studies suggest that a single vaccine with combinations of these antigens - a substance that causes the immune system to produce antibodies against it - could protect against an even greater range of current and future coronaviruses. This is an exceptionally different vaccine technology - it's a real turning point Jonathan Heeney The vaccine antigen technology, developed by the University of Cambridge and spin-out DIOSynVax in early 2020, provided protection against all known variants of SARS-CoV-2 - the virus that causes COVID-19 - as well as other major coronaviruses, including those that caused the first SARS epidemic in 2002. The studies in mice, rabbits and guinea pigs - an important step before beginning human clinical trials, currently underway in Southampton and Cambridge - found that the vaccine candidate provided a strong immune response against a range of coronaviruses by targeting the parts of the virus that are required for replication. The vaccine candidate is based on a single digitally designed and immune-optimised antigen. Even though the vaccine was designed before the emergence of the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2, it provided a strong protection against all of these and against more recent variants, suggesting that vaccines based on DIOSynVax antigens may also protect against future SARS-CoV-2 variants.