ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination prevents SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia in rhesus macaques

van Doremalen, N.; Lambe, T.; Spencer, A.; Belij-Rammerstorfer, S.; Purushotham, J.; Port, J.; Avanzato, V.; Bushmaker, T.; Flaxman, A.; Ulaszewska, M.; Feldmann, F.; Allen, E.; Sharpe, H.; Schulz, J.; Holbrook, M.; Okumura, A.; Meade-White, K.; Perez-Perez, L.; Bissett, C.; Gilbride, C.; Williamson, B.; Rosenke, R.; Long, D.; Ishwarbhai, A.; Kailath, R.; Rose, L.; Morris, S.; Powers, C.; Lovaglio, J.; Hanley, P.; Scott, D.; Saturday, G.; de Wit, E.; Gilbert, S. C.; Munster, V.

doi:10.1101/2020.05.13.093195

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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2020.05.13.093195

ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination prevents SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia in rhesus macaques

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Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in December 20191,2 and is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic3. Vaccines are an essential countermeasure urgently needed to control the pandemic4. Here, we show that the adenovirus-vectored vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, encoding the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, is immunogenic in mice, eliciting a robust humoral and cell-mediated response. This response was not Th2 dominated, as demonstrated by IgG subclass and cytokine expression profiling. A single vaccination with ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 induced a humoral and cellular immune response in rhesus macaques. We observed a significantly reduced viral load in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and respiratory tract tissue of vaccinated animals challenged with SARS-CoV-2 compared with control animals, and no pneumonia was observed in vaccinated rhesus macaques. Importantly, no evidence of immune-enhanced disease following viral challenge in vaccinated animals was observed. ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 is currently under investigation in a phase I clinical trial. Safety, immunogenicity and efficacy against symptomatic PCR-positive COVID-19 disease will now be assessed in randomised controlled human clinical trials.

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van Doremalen, N., Lambe, T., Spencer, A., Belij-Rammerstorfer, S., Purushotham, J., Port, J., Avanzato, V., Bushmaker, T., Flaxman, A., Ulaszewska, M., Feldmann, F., Allen, E., Sharpe, H., Schulz, J., Holbrook, M., Okumura, A., Meade-White, K., Perez-Perez, L., Bissett, C., Gilbride, C., Williamson, B., Rosenke, R., Long, D., Ishwarbhai, A., Kailath, R., Rose, L., Morris, S., Powers, C., Lovaglio, J., Hanley, P., Scott, D., Saturday, G., de Wit, E., Gilbert, S. C., Munster, V.. 2020-05-13. ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination prevents SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia in rhesus macaques. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.13.093195

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