A ferritin-based COVID-19 nanoparticle vaccine that elicits robust, durable, broad-spectrum neutralizing antisera in non-human primates

Payton A-B Weidenbacher; Mrinmoy Sanyal; Natalia Friedland; Shaogeng Tang; Prabhu S Arunachalam; Mengyun Hu; Ozan S Kumru; Mary Kate Morris; Jane Fontenot; Lisa Shirreff; Jonathan Do; Ya-Chen Cheng; Gayathri Vasudevan; Mark B Feinberg; Francois J Villinger; Carl Hanson; Sangeeta B Joshi; David B Volkin; Bali Pulendran; Peter S Kim

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-37417-9

A ferritin-based COVID-19 nanoparticle vaccine that elicits robust, durable, broad-spectrum neutralizing antisera in non-human primates

Nat Commun. 2023 Apr 17;14(1):2149. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-37417-9.

Authors

Payton A-B Weidenbacher^#^{1

2}, Mrinmoy Sanyal^#^{1

3}, Natalia Friedland^#^{1

3}, Shaogeng Tang^{1

3}, Prabhu S Arunachalam⁴, Mengyun Hu⁴, Ozan S Kumru⁵, Mary Kate Morris⁶, Jane Fontenot⁷, Lisa Shirreff⁷, Jonathan Do^{1

3}, Ya-Chen Cheng^{1

3}, Gayathri Vasudevan⁸, Mark B Feinberg⁸, Francois J Villinger⁷, Carl Hanson⁶, Sangeeta B Joshi⁵, David B Volkin⁵, Bali Pulendran^{4

9

10}, Peter S Kim^{11

12

13}

Affiliations

¹ Sarafan ChEM-H, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
² Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
³ Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
⁴ Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
⁵ Vaccine Analytics and Formulation Center, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA.
⁶ California Department of Public Health, Richmond, CA, USA.
⁷ New Iberia Research Center, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, New Iberia, LA, USA.
⁸ IAVI, New York, NY, USA.
⁹ Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
¹¹ Sarafan ChEM-H, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. kimpeter@stanford.edu.
¹² Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. kimpeter@stanford.edu.
¹³ Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA. kimpeter@stanford.edu.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

While the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines has been a scientific triumph, the need remains for a globally available vaccine that provides longer-lasting immunity against present and future SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs). Here, we describe DCFHP, a ferritin-based, protein-nanoparticle vaccine candidate that, when formulated with aluminum hydroxide as the sole adjuvant (DCFHP-alum), elicits potent and durable neutralizing antisera in non-human primates against known VOCs, including Omicron BQ.1, as well as against SARS-CoV-1. Following a booster ~one year after the initial immunization, DCFHP-alum elicits a robust anamnestic response. To enable global accessibility, we generated a cell line that can enable production of thousands of vaccine doses per liter of cell culture and show that DCFHP-alum maintains potency for at least 14 days at temperatures exceeding standard room temperature. DCFHP-alum has potential as a once-yearly (or less frequent) booster vaccine, and as a primary vaccine for pediatric use including in infants.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Animals
Antibodies, Neutralizing
Antibodies, Viral
COVID-19 Vaccines
COVID-19* / prevention & control
Ferritins
Geranium*
Humans
Immune Sera
Nanoparticles*
Primates
SARS-CoV-2

Substances

COVID-19 Vaccines
aluminum sulfate
Ferritins
Immune Sera
Antibodies, Neutralizing
Antibodies, Viral

Supplementary concepts

SARS-CoV-2 variants

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Supplementary concepts

Grants and funding