Tests on hamsters have shown the effectiveness of a vaccine against different variants of Covid-19: it targets a protein which remains, regardless of the evolution of the virus.
- A sarbecovirus vaccine is effective against different variants of Covid-19.
- A study on hamsters demonstrated this.
- It could be effective against future variants of the virus.
Vaccination plays a key role in the fight against Covid-19. But it takes time to develop new serums, and in the meantime, new variants develop, jeopardizing the effectiveness of vaccines. However, new research raises optimism: scientists have found an effective product against the Covid-19 strain and its variants. The results are presented in Frontiers in immunology.
Covid-19: an international trial for this new vaccine
The National Health Safety Agency (ANSES) participated in these preclinical trials. In a communicatedshe explains that the study “was carried out in collaboration with the United Kingdom Health Safety Agency (UKHSA), the French company Osivax and the Vaccine Formulation Institute, Switzerland.. The product tested is a vaccine against sarbecoviruses, coronaviruses responsible for severe acute respiratory syndromes. The test was carried out on hamsters.
Vaccine against Covid-19 and its variants: evidence of its effectiveness in a trial on hamsters
“Unlike the vaccines currently used against Sars-CoV-2, the vaccine tested is as effective against the original strain as against the Delta and Omicron variants., observes Anses. The weight of the hamsters is a sign of the effectiveness of this serum. “It decreased little in hamsters vaccinated then infected with one of the variants, they indicate. On the contrary, their unvaccinated counterparts lost 5 to 10% of their mass after being infected with the original strain or the Delta variant..” The lungs of vaccinated hamsters also showed fewer lesions and the rate of virus replication was lower.
Covid-19 : how can we explain this widespread effectiveness of the vaccine?
According to ANSES, the major advantage of this vaccine lies in its design. Unlike serums currently used, it does not target the Spike protein, but the nucleocapsid (N) protein. One of Spike’s problems is that she changes from one variant to another. “The N protein is conserved between variants of Sars-CoV-2 and more broadly within sarbecoviruses, the subgenus to which the coronaviruses responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome such as SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV belong. -2″, explains Elodie Monchâtre-Leroy, director of the Anses de la Rage and wildlife laboratory, located in Nancy, in a press release. When this protein is detected by the immune system, it destroys infected cells and thus prevents the virus from multiplying in the body.
Covid-19 vaccine: future trials planned
In 2024, a phase 1 clinical trial, carried out with humans, will be launched. But researchers want to know more about the versatility of this vaccine, so tests will be carried out with other strains of coronavirus, in particular SARS-Cov-1. “We want to test it against SARS-CoV-1 to see if it is effective against other coronaviruses that cause severe acute respiratory syndrome, develops Elodie Monchâtre-Leroy. After SARS-CoV-1 in 2002 and SARS-CoV-2 in 2019, we are not safe from another strain emerging in the coming years.”