DIOS-CoVax2 / University of Cambridge, DioSynVax, University Hospitals Southampton NHS Trust - LARVOL DELTA

Immune imprinting and next-generation coronavirus vaccines. (PubMed, Nat Microbiol) - "Since its emergence, SARS-CoV-2 has evolved in a population with partial immunity, acquired by infection, vaccination or both. Here we critically examine the evidence for and against immune imprinting in host humoral responses to SARS-CoV-2 and its implications for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) booster vaccine programmes."

Journal • Review • Infectious Disease • Influenza • Novel Coronavirus Disease • Respiratory Diseases

The receptor binding domain as a target for variant proof and pansarbecovirus vaccines (OPTIONS XI 2022) - "T2_17 was further evaluated in guinea pigs and rabbits, and tested in prime-boost challenge experiments using K18-huACE2 mice primed with licensed SARS-CoV-2 vaccines (Comirnaty or Vaxzevria). Conclusion The RBD is a viable target for booster vaccination against SARS-CoV-2, and as part of wider efforts to vaccinate against a variety of circulating or zoonotic potential viruses. Hybrid structurally modified RBDs containing crossreactive neutralising or binding antibody epitopes are an important component of optimised antigens in the development of a pan-coronavirus vaccine."

Infectious Disease • Novel Coronavirus Disease • Respiratory Diseases

Protection against SARS-CoV-2 after Covid-19 Vaccination and Previous Infection. (PubMed, N Engl J Med) - "Two doses of BNT162b2 vaccine were associated with high short-term protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection; this protection waned considerably after 6 months. Infection-acquired immunity boosted with vaccination remained high more than 1 year after infection. (Funded by the U.K. Health Security Agency and others; ISRCTN Registry number, ISRCTN11041050.)."

Journal • Infectious Disease • Novel Coronavirus Disease • Respiratory Diseases

Risk of thrombocytopenia and thromboembolism after covid-19 vaccination and SARS-CoV-2 positive testing: self-controlled case series study. (PubMed, BMJ) - "Increased risks of haematological and vascular events that led to hospital admission or death were observed for short time intervals after first doses of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and BNT162b2 mRNA vaccines. The risks of most of these events were substantially higher and more prolonged after SARS-CoV-2 infection than after vaccination in the same population."

Clinical • Journal • Cardiovascular • Hematological Disorders • Infectious Disease • Ischemic stroke • Myocardial Infarction • Novel Coronavirus Disease • Respiratory Diseases • Thrombocytopenia • Venous Thromboembolism

Cambridge university aims for autumn trials of coronavirus vaccine after UK funding (Reuters) - "The University of Cambridge is aiming to start clinical trials of its possible coronavirus vaccine in the autumn after it received 1.9 million pounds ($2.5 million) in funding from the British government....The Cambridge candidate, DIOS-CoVax2, is DNA based. Computer-generated antigen structures are encoded by synthetic genes..."

Financing • Infectious Disease • Novel Coronavirus Disease

Severe Respiratory Failure in Adult Influenza Infection Is Characterised by Mechanisms Relating to Pulmonary Endothelial Leak and Interferon Gamma Induced Translational Silencing (ATS 2020) - "Silencing of this mechanism may result in exacerbated innate immune responses, as part of an immune evasion strategy in coronavirus infection5. Endotypes were observed to be stable over 48 hours.Conclusions We identified three novel and biologically plausible endotypes of influenza infection in adult patients with respiratory failure. The endotypes relate to dysfunction of immune mechanisms and endothelial barrier function, and may be amenable to pharmacological intervention."

Clinical • IFNG • IL6 • SLIT2

Newly added product (Sciencebusiness) - Preclinical, Novel Coronavirus Disease

Pipeline update