A thermostable mRNA vaccine against COVID-19

Zhang, Na-Na; Li, Xiao-Feng; Deng, Yong-Qiang; Zhao, Hui; Huang, Yi-Jiao; Yang, Guan; Huang, Wei-Jin; Gao, Peng; Zhou, Chao; Zhang, Rong-Rong; Guo, Yan; Sun, Shi-Hui; Fan, Hang; Zu, Shu-Long; Chen, Qi; He, Qi; Cao, Tian-Shu; Huang, Xing-Yao; Qiu, Hong-Ying; Nie, Jian-Hui; Jiang, Yuhang; Yan, Hua-Yuan; Ye, Qing; Zhong, Xia; Xue, Xia-Lin; Zha, Zhen-Yu; Zhou, Dongsheng; Yang, Xiao; Wang, You-Chun; Ying, Bo; Qin, Cheng-Feng

Summary There has been an urgent need of vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Among all approaches, messenger RNA (mRNA) -based vaccine has emerged as a rapid and versatile platform to quickly respond to such a challenge. Here, we developed a lipid-nanoparticle-encapsulated mRNA (mRNA-LNP) encoding the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 as a vaccine candidate (termed ARCoV). Intramuscular immunization of ARCoV mRNA-LNPs elicited robust neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 as well as Th1-biased cellular response in mice and non-human primates. Two doses of ARCoV immunization in mice conferred complete protection against the challenge of a SARS-CoV-2 mouse adapted strain. Additionally, ARCoV was manufactured in liquid formulation and can be stored at room temperature for at least one week. This novel COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, ARCoV, is currently being evaluated in phase 1 clinical trials.