A Thermostable mRNA Vaccine against COVID-19

  • Cell. 2020 Sep 3;182(5):1271-1283.e16. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.07.024.
Na-Na Zhang  1 ,  Xiao-Feng Li  2 ,  Yong-Qiang Deng  2 ,  Hui Zhao  2 ,  Yi-Jiao Huang  2 ,  Guan Yang  3 ,  Wei-Jin Huang  4 ,  Peng Gao  5 ,  Chao Zhou  2 ,  Rong-Rong Zhang  2 ,  Yan Guo  2 ,  Shi-Hui Sun  2 ,  Hang Fan  2 ,  Shu-Long Zu  2 ,  Qi Chen  2 ,  Qi He  3 ,  Tian-Shu Cao  2 ,  Xing-Yao Huang  2 ,  Hong-Ying Qiu  2 ,  Jian-Hui Nie  4 ,  Yuhang Jiang  5 ,  Hua-Yuan Yan  5 ,  Qing Ye  2 ,  Xia Zhong  5 ,  Xia-Lin Xue  5 ,  Zhen-Yu Zha  5 ,  Dongsheng Zhou  2 ,  Xiao Yang  3 ,  You-Chun Wang  6 ,  Bo Ying  7 ,  Cheng-Feng Qin  8
Affiliations
  • 1. State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100071, China; School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
  • 2. State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100071, China.
  • 3. State Key Laboratory of Proteomics, Beijing Proteome Research Center, National Center for Protein Sciences (Beijing), Beijing Institute of Lifeomics, Beijing 102206, China.
  • 4. Division of HIV/AIDS and Sex-Transmitted Virus Vaccines, Institute for Biological Product Control, National Institutes for Food and Drug Control (NIFDC), Beijing 102629, China.
  • 5. Suzhou Abogen Biosciences Co., Ltd., Suzhou 215123, China.
  • 6. Division of HIV/AIDS and Sex-Transmitted Virus Vaccines, Institute for Biological Product Control, National Institutes for Food and Drug Control (NIFDC), Beijing 102629, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 7. Suzhou Abogen Biosciences Co., Ltd., Suzhou 215123, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 8. State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100071, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 32795413 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.07.024
Abstract

There is an urgent need for vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) because of the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Among all approaches, a messenger RNA (mRNA)-based vaccine has emerged as a rapid and versatile platform to quickly respond to this challenge. Here, we developed a lipid nanoparticle-encapsulated mRNA (mRNA-LNP) encoding the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 as a vaccine candidate (called ARCoV). Intramuscular immunization of ARCoV mRNA-LNP elicited robust neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 as well as a Th1-biased cellular response in mice and non-human primates. Two doses of ARCoV immunization in mice conferred complete protection against the challenge of a SARS-CoV-2 mouse-adapted strain. Additionally, ARCoV is manufactured as a liquid formulation and can be stored at room temperature for at least 1 week. ARCoV is currently being evaluated in phase 1 clinical trials.

Keywords
COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; lipid nanoparticle; mRNA vaccine; mouse-adapted strain; non-human primate; protection.
Products