STTR Phase I: Protective T Cell Vaccine for SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19)

The broader impact /commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is to develop a fundamentally different next-generation SARS CoV-2 vaccine that addresses current gaps in efficacy, safety, and national and global distribution of vaccines. The rapid global emergence of the highly infectious delta variant underscores the importance of T cell immunity, increasingly recognized as critical to eliciting effective and long-term immunity to SARS CoV-2. An innovative DNA vaccine, delivered as a patient-friendly intranasal spray that does not require refrigeration, will improve public health.

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project advances a multivalent SARS CoV-2 T cell vaccine by intranasal/pulmonary administration of calcium phosphate nanoparticle-formulated plasmids. Proteins comprising the SARS CoV-2 ORFeome will be cloned in proprietary plasmids (Aim 1) screened by in vitro challenge with PBMC from recovered donors (Aim 2) and safety/immunogenicity/challenge in vivo in hACE2 mice. The outcome of Phase I will be identification novel ORFs that elicit T cell responses in vivo and that in combination partially protective (50% survival at 14 days post infection) against challenge with SARS CoV-2.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.