Single-shot Ad26 vaccine protects against SARS-CoV-2 in rhesus macaques.
Noe B MercadoRoland ZahnFrank WegmannCarolin LoosAbishek ChandrashekarJingyou YuJinyan LiuLauren PeterKatherine McMahanLisa H TostanoskiXuan HeDavid R MartinezLucy RuttenRinke BosDanielle van ManenJort VellingaJerome CustersJohannes P LangedijkTed KwaksMark J G BakkersDavid ZuijdgeestSietske K Rosendahl HuberCaroline AtyeoStephanie FischingerJohn S BurkeJared FeldmanBlake M HauserTimothy M CaradonnaEsther A BondzieGabriel DagottoMakda S GebreEmily HoffmanCatherine Jacob-DolanMarinela KirilovaZhenfeng LiZijin LinShant H MahrokhianLori F MaxfieldFelix NampanyaRamya NityanandamJoseph P NkololaShivani PatelJohn D VenturaKaylee VerringtonHuahua WanLaurent PessaintAlex Van RyKelvin BladeAmanda StrasbaughMehtap CabusRenita BrownAnthony CookSerge ZouantchangadouElyse TeowHanne A ElyardMark G LewisYongfei CaiBing ChenAaron G SchmidtR Keith ReevesRalph S BaricDouglas A LauffenburgerGalit AlterPaul StoffelsMathai MammenJohan Van HoofHanneke SchuitemakerDan H BarouchPublished in: Nature (2020)
A safe and effective vaccine for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may be required to end the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic1-8. For global deployment and pandemic control, a vaccine that requires only a single immunization would be optimal. Here we show the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a single dose of adenovirus serotype 26 (Ad26) vector-based vaccines expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein in non-human primates. Fifty-two rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) were immunized with Ad26 vectors that encoded S variants or sham control, and then challenged with SARS-CoV-2 by the intranasal and intratracheal routes9,10. The optimal Ad26 vaccine induced robust neutralizing antibody responses and provided complete or near-complete protection in bronchoalveolar lavage and nasal swabs after SARS-CoV-2 challenge. Titres of vaccine-elicited neutralizing antibodies correlated with protective efficacy, suggesting an immune correlate of protection. These data demonstrate robust single-shot vaccine protection against SARS-CoV-2 in non-human primates. The optimal Ad26 vector-based vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, termed Ad26.COV2.S, is currently being evaluated in clinical trials.