Frontiers in Immunology (Jun 2023)

OVX033, a nucleocapsid-based vaccine candidate, provides broad-spectrum protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants in a hamster challenge model

  • Charlotte Primard,
  • Elodie Monchâtre-Leroy,
  • Judith Del Campo,
  • Séverine Valsesia,
  • Elsa Nikly,
  • Marion Chevandier,
  • Franck Boué,
  • Alexandre Servat,
  • Marine Wasniewski,
  • Evelyne Picard-Meyer,
  • Thomas Courant,
  • Nicolas Collin,
  • Francisco J. Salguero,
  • Alexandre Le Vert,
  • Delphine Guyon-Gellin,
  • Florence Nicolas

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1188605
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14

Abstract

Read online

Spike-based COVID-19 vaccines induce potent neutralizing antibodies but their efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 variants decreases. OVX033 is a recombinant protein composed of the full-length nucleocapsid (N) protein of SARS-CoV-2 genetically fused to oligoDOM®, a self-assembling domain which improves antigen immunogenicity. OVX033 including N as an antigenic target is proposed as new vaccine candidate providing broad-spectrum protection against sarbecoviruses. OVX033 demonstrated its ability to trigger cross-reactive T cell responses and cross-protection against three variants of SARS-CoV-2 (B.1 Europe, Delta B.1.617.2, and Omicron B.1.1.529) in a hamster challenge model, as evidenced by lower weight loss, lower lung viral loads, and reduced lung histopathological lesions.

Keywords