Soluble Spike DNA vaccine provides long-term protective immunity against SAR-CoV-2 in mice and nonhuman primates

Seo, Yong Bok; Suh, You Suk; Ryu, Ji In; Jang, Hwanhee; Oh, Hanseul; Koo, Bon-Sang; Seo, Sang-Hwan; Hong, Jung Joo; Song, Manki; Kim, Sung-Joo; Sung, Young Chul

The unprecedented and rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 has motivated the need for a rapidly producible and scalable vaccine. Here, we developed a synthetic soluble SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) DNA-based vaccine candidate, GX-19. In mice, immunization with GX-19 elicited not only S-specific systemic and pulmonary antibody responses but also Th1-biased T cell responses in a dose-dependent manner. GX-19 vaccinated nonhuman primate seroconverted rapidly and exhibited detectable neutralizing antibody response as well as multifunctional CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses. Notably, when the immunized nonhuman primates were challenged at 10 weeks after the last vaccination with GX-19, they did not develop fever and reduced viral loads in contrast to non-vaccinated primates as a control. These findings indicate that GX-19 vaccination provides durable protective immune response and also support further development of GX-19 as a vaccine candidate for SARS-CoV-2 in human clinical trials.