Cambridge vaccine trial to start in Southampton

Southampton researchers will soon start a trial of a DNA based vaccine for COVID-19 led by the University of Cambridge, after it received 1.9 million pounds in funding from the British government.

A £1.9 million funding boost from Innovate UK, the Government’s innovation agency, has provided support for a collaboration between Cambridge spin-out company DIOSynVax, the University of Cambridge and the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.

The funding will allow the team to take the vaccine candidate to clinical trial at the NIHR Southampton Clinical Research Facility, and will start later this year.

Preventing future outbreaks

The approach uses genetic sequences of all known coronaviruses to hone the immune response.

“Our approach involves 3D computer modelling of the SARS-CoV-2 structure,” said Jonathan Heeney, founder of DIOSynVax.

“It uses information on the virus itself as well as its relatives – SARS, MERS and other coronaviruses carried by animals that threaten to ‘spill over’ to humans again to cause future human epidemics.

"We're looking for chinks in its armour, crucial pieces of the virus that we can use to construct the vaccine to direct the immune response in the right direction.

"Ultimately we aim to make a vaccine that will not only protect from SARS-CoV-2, but also other related coronaviruses that may spill over from animals to humans."

Needle free

The DNA based candidate vaccine, DIOS-CoVax2, would not need to be stored at cold temperatures and could be delivered without needles, potentially making it easier to distribute.

Computer-generated antigen structures are encoded by synthetic genes, which can then re-programme the body's immune system to produce antibodies against the coronavirus.

This DNA vector method has been shown to be safe and effective at stimulating an immune response in other pathogens in early stage trials.

"This could be a major breakthrough in being able to give a future vaccine to huge numbers of people across the world," said Saul Faust, Director of the NIHR Southampton Clinical Research Facility.