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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Christopher DuncanORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).
Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the safety and optimal dose of a novel inactivated whole-virus adjuvanted vaccine against SARS-CoV-2: VLA2001.Methods: We conducted an open-label, dose-escalation study followed by a double-blind randomized trial using low, medium and high doses of VLA2001 (1:1:1). The primary safety outcome was the frequency and severity of solicited local and systemic reactions within 7 days after vaccination. The primary immunogenicity outcome was the geometric mean titre of (GMT) of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 two weeks after the second vaccination. The study is registered as NCT04671017.Results: Between December 16, 2020, and June 3, 2021, 153 healthy adults aged 18-55 years were recruited in the UK. Overall, 81.7% of the participants reported a solicited AE, with injection site tenderness (58.2%) and headache (46.4%) being the most frequent. Only 2 participants reported a severe solicited event. Up to day 106, 131 (85.6%) participants had reported any AE. All observed incidents were transient and non-life threatening in nature. Immunogenicity measured at 2 weeks after completion of the two-dose priming schedule, showed significantly higher GMTs of SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibody titres in the highest dose group (GMT 545.6; 95% CI: 428.1, 695.4) which were similar to a panel of convalescent sera (GMT 526.9; 95% CI: 336.47, 825.06). Seroconversion rates of neutralising antibodies were also significantly higher in the high-dose group (>90%) compared to the other dose groups. In the high dose group, antigen-specific interferon-γ expressing T-cells reactive against the S, M and N proteins were observed in 76, 36 and 49%, respectively.Conclusions: VLA2001 was well tolerated in all tested dose groups, and no safety signal of concern was identified. The highest dose group showed statistically significantly stronger immunogenicity with similar tolerability and safety, and was selected for phase 3 clinical development.
Author(s): Lazarus R, Taucher C, Brown C, Corbic I, Danon L, Dubischar K, Duncan CJA, Eder-Lingelbach S, Faust SN, Green C, Gokani K, Hochreiter R, Wright JK, Kwon D, Middleditch A, Munro APS, Naker K, Penciu F, Price D, Querton B, Riaz T, Ross-Russell A, Sanchez-Gonzalez A, Wardle H, Warren S, Finn A
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Infection
Year: 2022
Volume: 85
Issue: 3
Pages: 306-317
Print publication date: 01/09/2022
Online publication date: 16/06/2022
Acceptance date: 11/06/2022
Date deposited: 22/06/2022
ISSN (print): 0163-4453
ISSN (electronic): 1532-2742
Publisher: Elsevier
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2022.06.009
DOI: 10.1016/j.jinf.2022.06.009
ePrints DOI: 10.57711/j187-p672
PubMed id: 35718205
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