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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2022.12.12.520166

Broad and Durable Humoral Responses Following Single Hydrogel Immunization of SARS-CoV-2 Subunit Vaccine

Ou, B. S.·Saouaf, O. M.·Yan, J.·Bruun, T. U. J.·Baillet, J.·King, N. P.·Appel, E.
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Abstract

Most vaccines require several immunizations to induce robust immunity, and indeed, most SARS-CoV-2 vaccines require an initial two-shot regimen followed by several boosters to maintain efficacy. Such a complex series of immunizations unfortunately increases the cost and complexity of populations-scale vaccination and reduces overall compliance and vaccination rate. In a rapidly evolving pandemic affected by the spread of immune-escaping variants, there is an urgent need to develop vaccines capable of providing robust and durable immunity. In this work, we developed a single immunization SARS-CoV-2 subunit vaccine that could rapidly generate potent, broad, and durable humoral immunity. We leveraged injectable polymer-nanoparticle (PNP) hydrogels as a depot technology for the sustained delivery of a nanoparticle COVID antigen displaying multiple copies of the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding-domain (RBD-NP), and potent adjuvants including CpG and 3M-052. Compared to a clinically relevant prime-boost regimen with soluble vaccines formulated with CpG/Alum or 3M-052/Alum adjuvants, PNP hydrogel vaccines more rapidly generated higher, broader, and more durable antibody responses. Additionally, these single-immunization hydrogel-based vaccines elicited potent and consistent neutralizing responses. Overall, we show that PNP hydrogels elicit improved anti-COVID immune responses with only a single administration, demonstrating their potential as critical technologies to enhance our overall pandemic readiness.

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Ou, B. S., Saouaf, O. M., Yan, J., Bruun, T. U. J., Baillet, J., King, N. P., Appel, E.. 2022-12-13. Broad and Durable Humoral Responses Following Single Hydrogel Immunization of SARS-CoV-2 Subunit Vaccine. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.12.12.520166

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