Journal
VACCINE
Volume 39, Issue 30, Pages 4108-4116Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.05.098
Keywords
SARS-CoV-2; ZyCoV-D; DNA Vaccine; Spike; MNT; IFN-gamma
Categories
Funding
- Covid19 Consortium under National Biopharma Mission, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India [BT/COVID0003/01/20]
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SARS-CoV-2, originating in China in 2019, rapidly spread globally causing millions of infections and deaths. Efforts were made to develop a candidate vaccine ZyCoV-D, which contains a DNA plasmid vector carrying the gene encoding the spike protein of the virus, and animal studies have shown promising immunogenicity potential.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), initially originated in China in year 2019 and spread rapidly across the globe within 5 months, causing over 96 million cases of infection and over 2 million deaths. Huge efforts were undertaken to bring the COVID-19 vaccines in clinical development, so that it can be made available at the earliest, if found to be efficacious in the trials. We developed a candidate vaccine ZyCoV-D comprising of a DNA plasmid vector carrying the gene encoding the spike protein (S) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The S protein of the virus includes the receptor binding domain (RBD), responsible for binding to the human angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE-2) receptor. The DNA plasmid construct was transformed into E. coli cells for large scale production. The immunogenicity potential of the plasmid DNA has been evaluated in mice, guinea pig, and rabbit models by intradermal route at 25, 100 and 500 tig dose. Based on the animal studies proof-of-concept has been established and preclinical toxicology (PCT) studies were conducted in rat and rabbit model. Preliminary animal study demonstrates that the candidate DNA vaccine induces antibody response including neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and also elicited Th-1 response as evidenced by elevated IFN-gamma levels. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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