As the number of novel coronavirus infections increases worldwide every day, strategies to develop a safe and effective vaccine are advancing rapidly.
In response to this public health crisis, researchers at the Precision Vaccines Program (PVP) at Boston Children’s Hospital are at the forefront of developing a vaccine that is targeted at the elderly – those at greatest risk, the coronavirus – Develop disease 2019 (COVID-19) that is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-2 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).
According to the World Health Organization, older people and people with pre-existing conditions appear to be more susceptible to developing COVID-19.
“Older people have a different immune system than healthy middle-aged adults and often do not respond as robustly to immunization, so a single-size vaccine is not suitable for everyone,” said Ofer Levy, professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and director of the PVP.
Focus on adjuvants
The antigen currently used for vaccine development is the coronavirus spike protein, so called because it sits on the tip of a coronavirus particle. This is the part of the virus that the immune system “remembers”.
Vaccine-induced antibodies produced by the immune system against the spike protein can prevent infection.
PVP’s strategy is to combine the coronavirus spike protein with adjuvants: small molecules that are added to a vaccine to enhance the recipient’s immune response.
“Overall, we hope that a precise adjuvant approach will support the various ongoing vaccine efforts worldwide,” said Levy. “Adjuvants can be crucial to achieve a stronger, longer-lasting and broader immune response, especially in people with weakened immunity, such as in the elderly ”.
The team’s approach is unusual in the range and novelty of the adjuvants they will investigate, Levy said.
In addition to a collection of known vaccine adjuvants, the team will test new adjuvants discovered as part of the National Institutes of Health-funded program for the discovery of plant variety protection adjuvants.
“These adjuvants were discovered by screening against human cells,” said Levy. “This species-specific approach is an example of precision vaccine science.”
Age-specific
The plant variety protection program plans to test a variety of adjuvants and combinations of adjuvants on human white blood cells that come from older people. The researchers will then examine the adjuvant-induced immune responses.
“Our study, comparing single and combination adjuvants with and without coronavirus antigen, will identify an adjuvant combination that is most effective at optimal…
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