A vaccine against all types – new data give hope – health

Medicine dreams of a universal vaccine that will help against all variants. But that doesn’t have to remain a dream. Researchers are on the right track.

BA.4 and BA.5 are the currently dominant subtypes of the Omikronvariant of the coronavirus – and research into adapted vaccines is in full swing. Apparently, one of these should be approved as early as autumn. The European Medicines Agency responsible for this, EMA, expects an application for approval from BioNTech/Pfizer in the coming weeks.

New corona vaccine will probably come in autumn

Universal vaccine – one against all

Let’s hope that a new variant won’t appear any time soon. Because even in times of a pandemic, it takes a long time to develop, produce and vaccinate a new, adapted vaccine. In the worst case, until the variant to which it was adapted is no longer widespread. For this reason, experts hope for a universal vaccine. One that works against all previous and future CoV variants. It would have to elicit an antibody response in the body broad enough to protect against all mutations. Scientists from the USA could now be one step closer to such a vaccine.

The team of Scripps Research Institute at the University of San Diego identified an antibody against

– various Sars-CoV-2 variants
– Sars-CoV-1
– and other Sars viruses is effective.

Like other Covid vaccines and antibody preparations, this antibody attaches to the spike protein of the coronavirus. This protein allows the virus to enter human cells, making it a common target for drugs and vaccinations is. However, this docking point is also changed by the mutations, which means that antibodies specially tailored to it lose their effectiveness as soon as the virus mutates. According to the researchers, the newly discovered antibody binds to a specific point in the spike protein that occurs in many Sars viruses and is therefore less likely to mutate.

In one experiment, the researchers administered the spike protein to a rhesus monkey. As a rule, these are considered to be very suitable for checking vaccines and their effectiveness, since their immune system is very similar to that of humans. However, it was found that their immune system reacted differently than that of humans. It developed a significantly better range of antibodies – including those that attack the named site on the spike protein. The results were published in the journal Science Translational Medicine released.

New corona vaccine should also help against colds

antibodies in infected people

At the end of July, researchers at the University of Alabama in Birmingham examined the blood of former corona patients and found, among other things, 17 different antibodies, four of which were able to neutralize the corona virus, including the beta and omicron variants.

The antibody “1249A8”, which also binds to a fixed site of the spike protein and is therefore able to neutralize different variants, was particularly successful. In initial tests on mice, “1249A8” achieved a neutralizing effect against all variants of Sars-CoV-2, other beta corona viruses and some cold viruses. The results can be found in the journal “Plos Pathogens”.

But the newly discovered antibodies could not only play a role for vaccines, the new findings are also relevant for antibody drugs.

Expert warns – tens of thousands more corona cases per day

criticism

There is criticism from the German virologist Klaus Stöhr. “Unfortunately, ‘universal antibodies’ will not be the solution for vaccines in the near future,” he wrote in late July on twitter. Although these could bind to the unchangeable part of the spike protein, this is bad due to the proximity to the virus envelope. “There’s just not enough space to dock,” he says. And: If the antibodies were to bind here, “there would also be a selection pressure for this part of the spike protein and thus also variants that would make it necessary to adapt the vaccine again.”

He sums up: “These ‘universal’ antibodies will not be ready for practical use in the next few years.” Even if that were to succeed, the vaccine candidates would still have to be tested. It could be years before they are used.

Nav-Account sp Time14.08.2022, 06:45| Akt: 14.08.2022, 06:45

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