Today, the KAUST team lead by Prof. Magnus Rueping, Associate Director of the KAUST Catalysis Center, received a $2.5M Near Term Grand Challenge award to advance a pan-Betacoronavirus vaccine towards a pre-IND submission with the US FDA.
A research team lead by Prof. Rueping from King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) today announces the award of a Near Term Grand Challenge to advance a pan-Betacoronavirus vaccine based on a heterologous prime/boost regimen capable of broad and long-lasting protection against SARS-CoV-2 and potentially broader protection against MERS and SARS-1. The ten-month $2.5M grant will lead to the submission of a pre-IND with the US FDA, setting the stage for eventual clinical trials on an accelerated timeline.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the potential for rapid-response vaccines, but also the need for periodic boosters in the face of waning immunity and mutating viral strains. In an earlier collaboration the team developed in collaboration with the Boston-based RNA-delivery company Tiba biotech a heterologous prime-boost vaccine candidate demonstrating robust protection against betacoronavirus infection in animal models. In this next phase of the project, the KAUST-lead team will develop a robust protein boost which together can protect at risk populations across Africa, the Middle East and Asia who are in MERS endemic regions where SARS-CoV-2 continues to circulate.
The Near Term Grand Challenge project is a unique opportunity to advance a Saudi-developed vaccine into clinical testing.
While promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates are progressing through clinical trials, most focus on the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein and follow the traditional homogenous prime/boost regimen. However, protection is limited to SARS-CoV-2 only and long-term durability of that protection remains unknown as documented cases of re-infection increase. Indeed, SARS-CoV-2 is one of seven coronavirus strains threatening human health, including SARS-CoV-1, which first appeared in 2001 and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) which peaked in 2015 with a case fatality rate (CFR) reaching 30%. Beyond these recent outbreaks, other circulating coronaviruses are known to cause respiratory tract infections, accounting for up to 30% of all common colds. With over 6,000 coronaviruses strains lying dormant in bats alone, the CoVID-19 pandemic is neither the first, nor will it be the last, to threaten human life. Today there is no vaccine available that provides protection against this family of coronaviruses, and there is no domestic or regional vaccine company capable of rapidly responding to the next pandemic.
This is an extension to an earlier reported collaboration with KAUST’s Rapid Research Response Team (R3T), supporting healthcare stakeholders to combat the spread of COVID-19.
