On Nov. 30, 2020, a City of Hope investigational vaccine produced strong protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2, including neutralizing antibodies that recognize the current dominant circulating form, which is a mutant of the original Wuhan strain, according to research published today in Nature Communications. The vaccine is now being tested in a phase 1 clinical trial at City of Hope, an independent biomedical research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases.

The investigational vaccine generated abundant neutralizing antibodies, which prevented the virus from infecting healthy cells, and produced strong responses by T cells against the virus’ spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) antigens. The strong T cell response could provide long-term protection that may protect recipients of the vaccine against future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks.

The MVA platform has similarities to the Triplex vaccine developed by City of Hope against cytomegalovirus, a herpesvirus that can cause complications for stem cell transplant recipients. Research published in Annals of Internal Medicine showed that patients in the phase 2 randomized multicenter trial who received Triplex were less likely to develop health complications related to the herpesvirus than patients who did not take it. The p53MVA vaccine, also developed at City of Hope, is continuing to be used in combination with cancer drugs, such as pembrolizumab and gemcitabine, against solid tumors. City of Hope aimed to complete its phase 1 clinical trial by the end of March 2021.