A Cambridge team led by Darwin Fellow Professor Jonathan Heeney has developed a ‘universal vaccine’, designed to offer protection against multiple Sarbeco coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, which caused the COVID pandemic
Initial clinical trials in humans have shown that the vaccine is safe and has no significant side-effects.
The vaccine triggered immune responses in the volunteers not only to SARS-CoV-2 and SARS, but to related bat viruses that could potentially jump from animals to humans and cause future pandemics.
The technology uses an AI-designed ‘super-antigen’ to provide lasting protection against a broad range of viruses even as they mutate – the first time that a vaccine whose active component was designed entirely by computer simulations has been tested in humans. Vaccines developed in this way could protect against future emerging virus threats, as well as reducing the need for frequent reformulation.
“We’ve converted vaccine development from being reactive to being future proof. Our vaccines will continue to provide protection against viruses even as they mutate into new strains,” said Jonathan, who leads the Lab of Viral Zoonotics at the Department of Veterinary Medicine.
He added: “We’ve overcome the problem of traditional vaccines, which have limited protection. It means we can escape the constant cycle of chasing the virus variants circulating in humans and updating the vaccines to try to catch up, like a dog chasing its tail.”
