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Variant-proof high affinity ACE2 antagonist limits SARS-CoV-2 replication in upper and lower airways.

Matthew GagneBarbara J FlynnChristopher Cole HoneycuttDillon R FlebbeShayne F AndrewSamantha J ProvostLauren McCormickAlex Van RyElizabeth McCarthyJohn-Paul M ToddSaran BaoI-Ting TengShir MarcianoYinon RudichChunlin LiShilpi JainBushra WaliLaurent PessaintAlan DodsonAnthony CookMark G LewisHanne A ElyardJiri ZahradnikMehul S SutharMartha C NasonKathryn E FouldsPeter D KwongMario RoedererGideon SchreiberRobert A SederDaniel C Douek
Published in: Nature communications (2024)
SARS-CoV-2 has the capacity to evolve mutations that escape vaccine- and infection-acquired immunity and antiviral drugs. A variant-agnostic therapeutic agent that protects against severe disease without putting selective pressure on the virus would thus be a valuable biomedical tool that would maintain its efficacy despite the ongoing emergence of new variants. Here, we challenge male rhesus macaques with SARS-CoV-2 Delta-the most pathogenic variant in a highly susceptible animal model. At the time of challenge, we also treat the macaques with aerosolized RBD-62, a protein developed through multiple rounds of in vitro evolution of SARS-CoV-2 RBD to acquire 1000-fold enhanced ACE2 binding affinity. RBD-62 treatment equivalently suppresses virus replication in both upper and lower airways, a phenomenon not previously observed with clinically approved vaccines. Importantly, RBD-62 does not block the development of virus-specific T- and B-cell responses and does not elicit anti-drug immunity. These data provide proof-of-concept that RBD-62 can prevent severe disease from a highly virulent variant.
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