A Bacteriophage-Based, Highly Efficacious, Needle- and Adjuvant-Free, Mucosal COVID-19 Vaccine
Jingen Zhu, Swati Jain, Jian Sha, Himanshu Batra, Neeti Ananthaswamy, Paul B. Kilgore, Emily K. Hendrix, Yashoda Madaiah Hosakote, Xiaorong Wu, Juan P. Olano, Adeyemi Kayode, Cristi L. Galindo, Simran Banga, Aleksandra Drelich, Vivian Tat, Chien‐Te K. Tseng, Ashok K. Chopra, Venigalla B. Rao
Abstract
According to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 may have caused ~15-million deaths across the globe and is still ravaging the world. Another wave of ~100 million infections is predicted in the United States due to the emergence of highly transmissible immune-escaped Omicron variants. The authorized vaccines would not prevent these transmissions since they do not trigger mucosal immunity. We circumvented this limitation by developing a needle-free, bacteriophage T4-based, mucosal vaccine. This intranasally administered vaccine generates superior mucosal immunity in mice, in addition to inducing robust humoral and cell-mediated immune responses, and provides complete protection and sterilizing immunity against SARS-CoV-2 variants. The vaccine is stable, adjuvant-free, and cost-effectively manufactured and distributed, making it a strategically important next-generation COVID vaccine for ending this pandemic.