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, andexisting vaccines cannot effectively block the spread of the virus. Therefore, there is anurgent need to develop a high-efficiency and cost-effective vaccine suitable for largescaleimmunization. Based on the attenuated SARS-CoV-2 strain developed by the HongKong project team in the early stage, which was based on the nsp16 mutation, thisproject will further optimize the infectious clone of SARS-CoV-2, including the deletion ofthe KDKE motif fragment in nsp16, reverse of ORF3a, and substitution with the OmicronSpike protein, for reduced risk of virulence reversion, less inflammation, and enhancedantigenicity. The project will promote relevant clinical trials and explore the feasibility andeffectiveness of administering attenuated vaccines after inactivated vaccines. Themainland project team will focus on the development of testing methodologies and qualityinspection protocols, establishing production process parameters, systems, and highqualitystandards for the vaccine strain. The optimized attenuated SARS-CoV-2 livevaccine developed in this project will not only have independent intellectual property, butalso higher safety, immunogenicity and effectiveness, which will shed important light tothe proper control of ongoing and future coronaviruses pandemic.