1. Academic Validation
  2. Bivalent mRNA vaccine effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

Bivalent mRNA vaccine effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

  • J Biomed Sci. 2023 Jun 28;30(1):46. doi: 10.1186/s12929-023-00936-0.
Monika Kumari # 1 Shih-Chieh Su # 1 Kang-Hao Liang 2 Hsiu-Ting Lin 1 Yu-Feng Lu 1 Kai-Chi Chen 1 Wan-Yu Chen 1 Han-Chung Wu 3 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, No. 128, Academia Road, Section 2, Nankang, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan.
  • 2 Biomedical Translation Research Center (BioTReC), Academia Sinica, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan.
  • 3 Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, No. 128, Academia Road, Section 2, Nankang, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan. hcw0928@gate.sinica.edu.tw.
  • 4 Biomedical Translation Research Center (BioTReC), Academia Sinica, Taipei, 11529, Taiwan. hcw0928@gate.sinica.edu.tw.
  • # Contributed equally.
Abstract

Background: Sequential infections with SARS-CoV-2 variants such as Alpha, Delta, Omicron and its sublineages may cause high morbidity, so it is necessary to develop vaccines that can protect against both wild-type (WT) virus and its variants. Mutations in SARS-CoV-2's spike protein can easily alter viral transmission and vaccination effectiveness.

Methods: In this study, we designed full-length spike mRNAs for WT, Alpha, Delta, and BA.5 variants and integrated each into monovalent or bivalent mRNA-lipid nanoparticle vaccines. A pseudovirus neutralization assay was conducted on immunized mouse sera in order to examine the neutralizing potential of each vaccine.

Results: Monovalent mRNA vaccines were only effective against the same type of virus. Interestingly, monovalent BA.5 vaccination could neutralize BF.7 and BQ.1.1. Moreover, WT, Alpha, Delta, BA.5, and BF.7 pseudoviruses were broadly neutralized by bivalent mRNA vaccinations, such as BA.5 + WT, BA.5 + Alpha, and BA.5 + Delta. In particular, BA.5 + WT exhibited high neutralization against most variants of concern (VOCs) in a pseudovirus neutralization assay.

Conclusions: Our results show that combining two mRNA sequences may be an effective way to develop a broadly protective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine against a wide range of variant types. Importantly, we provide the optimal combination regimen and propose a strategy that may prove useful in combating future VOCs.

Keywords

Bivalent mRNA vaccines; SARS-CoV-2; Vaccine efficacy; Variants of concern (VOCs).

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