Corona VAC

Proof-of-concept Studie eines SARS-CoV-2 Impfstoffs mit rekominantem Spike-Protein

Since the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, many groups are racing to develop a prophylactic vaccine by using several approaches including mRNA, DNA and live viral vectors. The main aims of the project are: (i) to provide the proof-of-concept for a CDA-adjuvanted intranasal S-based vaccine by demonstrating its capacity to promote the elicitation of humoral responses in vivo, which are able to neutralize the virus and protect vaccinated animals against SARS-CoV-2; (ii) to exploit in silico algorithms to generate a synthetic S variant with optimized sequences for B and T cell epitopes able to promote responses cross-recognizing SARS-CoV-2 variants and potentially SARS and MERS; (iii) to develop a GMP compliant process for the manufacturing of the resulting antigen; (iv) to perform a first scientific advice with Paul-Ehrlich-Institut to define the regulatory pathway for this vaccine; and (v) to perform a cost calculation and time planning for the activities required to perform first in man studies of the vaccine. The resulting work flow can be exploited for other emerging pandemic threads.