Humoral immunogenicity of a Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) DNA Vaccine in Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta) Delivered using Needle-free Jet Injection

Jay, A.; Kwilas, S. A.; Josleyn, M.; Ricks, K.; Hooper, J. W.

doi:10.1101/2022.09.12.507647

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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2022.09.12.507647

Humoral immunogenicity of a Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) DNA Vaccine in Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta) Delivered using Needle-free Jet Injection

Jay, A.·Kwilas, S. A.·Josleyn, M.·Ricks, K.·Hooper, J. W.

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Abstract

A SARS-CoV-2 DNA vaccine targeting the spike protein and delivered by jet injection, nCOV-S(JET), previously shown to protect wild-type and immunosuppressed Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus), was evaluated via two needle-free delivery methods in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). The methods included intramuscular delivery of 2 mg per vaccination with the PharmaJet Stratis device and intradermal delivery of 0.4 mg per vaccination with the PharmaJet Tropis device. We hypothesized that the nCOV-S(JET) vaccine would mount detectable neutralizing antibody responses when delivered by needle-free jet injection by either the intradermal or intramuscular route. When delivered intramuscularly, the vaccines elicited neutralizing and variant (Beta, Gamma, and Delta) cross-neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in all six animals after three vaccinations. When delivered at a lower dose by the intradermal route, strong neutralizing antibody responses were only detected in two of six animals. This study confirms that a vaccine previously shown to protect in a hamster model can elicit neutralizing and cross-neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in nonhuman primates. We posit that nCOV-S(JET) has the potential for use as booster vaccine in heterologous vaccination strategies against COVID-19.

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Jay, A., Kwilas, S. A., Josleyn, M., Ricks, K., Hooper, J. W.. 2022-09-13. Humoral immunogenicity of a Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) DNA Vaccine in Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta) Delivered using Needle-free Jet Injection. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.09.12.507647

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