Elsevier

Vaccine

Volume 38, Issue 50, 25 November 2020, Pages 7892-7896
Vaccine

Short communication
NVX-CoV2373 vaccine protects cynomolgus macaque upper and lower airways against SARS-CoV-2 challenge

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.10.064Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • Full-length SARS-CoV-2 prefusion spike with Matrix-M™ (NVX-CoV2373) vaccine.

  • Induced hACE2 receptor blocking and neutralizing antibodies in macaques.

  • Vaccine protected against SARS-CoV-2 replication in the nose and lungs.

  • Absence of pulmonary pathology in NVX-CoV2373 vaccinated macaques.

Abstract

There is an urgent need for a safe and protective vaccine to control the global spread of SARS-CoV-2 and prevent COVID-19. Here, we report the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a SARS-CoV-2 subunit vaccine (NVX-CoV2373) produced from the full-length SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein stabilized in the prefusion conformation. Cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) immunized with NVX-CoV2373 and the saponin-based Matrix-M™ adjuvant induced anti-S antibody that was neutralizing and blocked binding to the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) receptor. Following intranasal and intratracheal challenge with SARS-CoV-2, immunized macaques were protected against upper and lower infection and pulmonary disease. These results support ongoing phase 1/2 clinical studies of the safety and immunogenicity of NVX-CoV2327 vaccine (NCT04368988).

Keywords

SARS-CoV-2
COVID-19
Spike glycoprotein
NVX-CoV2373 nanoparticles
Matrix-M adjuvant
Nonhuman primate

Cited by (0)

1

MGX and NP each contributed equally as co-lead authors.