Development of COVID-19 vaccine using a dual Toll-like receptor ligand liposome adjuvant

Mayuresh M Abhyankar; Barbara J Mann; Jeffrey M Sturek; Savannah Brovero; G Brett Moreau; Anjali Sengar; Crystal M Richardson; Sayeh Agah; Anna Pomés; Peter M Kasson; Mark A Tomai; Christopher B Fox; William A Petri Jr

doi:10.1038/s41541-021-00399-0

Development of COVID-19 vaccine using a dual Toll-like receptor ligand liposome adjuvant

NPJ Vaccines. 2021 Nov 18;6(1):137. doi: 10.1038/s41541-021-00399-0.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22903, USA.
² Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22903, USA.
³ Departments of Molecular Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
⁴ INDOOR Biotechnologies, Inc., Charlottesville, VA, 22903, USA.
⁵ 3M Corporate Research and Materials Lab, 3M Center, 270-4N-04, St Paul, MN, 55144, USA.
⁶ Infectious Disease Research Institute, Seattle, WA, 98102, USA.
⁷ Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22903, USA. wap3g@virginia.edu.

Abstract

We developed a SARS-CoV-2 spike subunit vaccine formulation containing dual TLR ligand liposome adjuvant. The vaccine-induced robust systemic neutralizing antibodies and completely protected mice from a lethal challenge. Two immunizations protected against lung injury and cleared the virus from lungs upon challenge. The adjuvanted vaccine also elicited systemic and local anti-Spike IgA which can be an important feature for a COVID-19 vaccine.