An spike-accum® bioconjugate protein vaccine confers potent SARS-CoV-2-specific immunity

Summary: Despite the recent control of COVID-19, the devastating effects caused by the 3-year pandemic highlight the importance of developing effective vaccines to rapidly address future outbreaks. The present study describes a novel Spike (Sp) protein-based vaccine formulation using the Accum® plat...

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Main Authors: Jean Pierre Bikorimana, Nathanael A. Caveney, Nehme EL-Hachem, Gabrielle A. Mandl, John A. Capobianco, Daniela Stanga, Jamilah Abusarah, Mark A. Hancock, Roudy Farah, Marina P. Gonçalves, Darryl Falzarano, Mingmin Liao, Glenn Hamonic, Qiang Liu, Simon Beaudoin, Sebastien Talbot, Moutih Rafei
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-09-01
Series:iScience
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004225015755
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Summary:Summary: Despite the recent control of COVID-19, the devastating effects caused by the 3-year pandemic highlight the importance of developing effective vaccines to rapidly address future outbreaks. The present study describes a novel Spike (Sp) protein-based vaccine formulation using the Accum® platform. Although Sp-Accum® bioconjugation does not alter the overall protein structure, it triggers a substantial antibody titer: i) exhibiting higher specificity toward the S1 domain of Sp, ii) neutralizing Sp-ACE2 interactions, and iii) cross-reacting with various Sp variants. Besides validating the vaccine immunogenicity in rabbits, its administration in a “gold-standard” SARS-CoV-2 hamster model was shown to be safe while accelerating viral clearance without eliciting signs of pathological inflammation in the lungs of infected animals. Altogether, this proof-of-concept study not only demonstrates once again the versatility of the Accum® technology in vaccine engineering, but it provides an enabling technology for the rapid development of value-added, protein-based vaccines for future pandemics.
ISSN:2589-0042