Application Research on a Live Attenuated SARS-CoV-2 Strain

Professor Yuan, Shuofeng   (Principal Investigator (PI))

24

2023-10-01

2688700

Application Research on a Live Attenuated SARS-CoV-2 Strain

Application Research, Live Attenuated, SARS-CoV-2 Strain

Microbiology

MHP/128/22

Mainland-Hong Kong Joint Funding Scheme (MHKJFS)

2023

On-going

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 is raging across the world, and existing vaccines cannot effectively block the spread of the virus. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a high-efficiency and cost-effective vaccine suitable for large-scale immunization. Based on the attenuated SARS-CoV-2 strain developed by the Hong Kong project team in the early stage, which was based on the nsp16 mutation, this project will further optimize the infectious clone of SARS-CoV-2, including the deletion of the KDKE motif fragment in nsp16, reverse of ORF3a, and substitution with the Omicron Spike protein, for reduced risk of virulence reversion, less inflammation, and enhanced antigenicity. The project will promote relevant clinical trials and explore the feasibility and effectiveness of administering attenuated vaccines after inactivated vaccines. The mainland project team will focus on the development of testing methodologies and quality inspection protocols, establishing production process parameters, systems, and high-quality standards for the vaccine strain. The optimized attenuated SARS-CoV-2 live vaccine developed in this project will not only have independent intellectual property, but also higher safety, immunogenicity and effectiveness, which will shed important light to the proper control of ongoing and future coronaviruses pandemic.