The vaccine platform developed by Abera Bioscience has been used in a collaboration between researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Vrije Universiteit to produce and test a novel SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate.

The results from a study in a golden hamster infection model were published earlier this summer, showing that the vaccine candidate induced protective immune responses.

Decorate bacterial Outer Membrane Vesicles with multiple antigens

Abera’s vaccine platform makes it possible to decorate bacterial Outer Membrane Vesicles (OMVs) with multiple antigens. It has been used by a number of research institutes to develop vaccine candidates against the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.

The study results were published as a so-called preprint on the bioRxiv server. In the study, OMVs were decorated with the antigenic SARS-CoV-2 Spike receptor-binding domain and tested in a golden hamster infection model. Intranasal vaccination resulted in high antibody titers and lowered virus titers in the lungs resulting in protection against lung pathology and other disease symptoms upon infection with live SARS-CoV-2 virus. The manuscript will be supplemented with additional data before submission for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

“It is interesting and exciting to see that the platform is effective against a viral disease, which we have not previously shown and it underscores the broad applicability for our platform.”

“We do not expect this vaccine candidate to be further developed into clinical trials as many other vaccine candidates have already come a long way and some have been approved for use on the market. On the other hand, it is interesting and exciting to see that the platform is effective against a viral disease, which we have not previously shown and it underscores the broad applicability for our platform. The authors of the article highlight the platform as an attractive option for the development of cost-effective future vaccines against variants of SARS-CoV-2 or against other emerging infectious diseases,” says Maria Alriksson, CEO of Abera Bioscience.

Photo: iStock