Polyspecific Virus Protein Vaccine for Variant Protection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The emergence of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants, such as D614G, B.1.1.7, B.1.351, and others, has raised concerns about the geographic and temporal efficacy of existing vaccine interventions, as they may partially escape immune responses, necessitating a vaccine that provides broad protection against multiple virus strains.
Innovation Solution
The development of polyspecific virus protein amino acid sequences that combine epitopes from diverse virus protein variants on a single molecule, encoded by nucleic acids like RNA, to induce a robust and broadly neutralizing immune response, reducing the risk of immune escape.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a vaccine targets a single virus strain, then it provides strong protection against that specific strain, but it becomes ineffective against emerging variants with genetic mutations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple virus protein sequences from different SARS-CoV-2 variants into a single chimeric protein construct. This merging approach allows the vaccine to present multiple epitopes simultaneously, enabling the immune system to recognize and respond to various viral variants with a single vaccination, thus resolving the contradiction between targeting a specific strain and protecting against multiple variants
Solution Approach 2:
The chimeric virus protein is designed to serve multiple functions: it maintains immunogenicity against the original strain while simultaneously providing cross-protection against emerging variants. The multi-functional design incorporates conserved regions and variant-specific epitopes, allowing the single vaccine construct to address multiple threats, thereby achieving both reliability for the original strain and adaptability for variants
2Adaptability or versatility
If the virus protein sequence is modified to include multiple variant epitopes, then broad protection against variants is achieved, but the complexity of vaccine design and manufacturing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The complex challenge of protecting against multiple variants is segmented by dividing the chimeric protein into distinct functional domains: conserved regions that provide baseline protection and variant-specific epitopes that target emerging strains. This segmentation allows for systematic design where each segment contributes a specific protective function, making the overall complex vaccine manageable through modular construction and simplifying manufacturing processes
3Adaptability or versatility
If existing vaccines are updated to target new variants, then protection against new variants improves, but protection against original strains may be compromised and multiple updates are needed over time
Solution Approach 1:
The chimeric vaccine performs preliminary action by proactively incorporating epitopes from multiple potential future variants into the current vaccine construct. This forward-looking design anticipates viral evolution and prepares the immune system in advance against multiple possible variants, reducing the need for frequent vaccine updates and maintaining protection over time without requiring repeated reformulations
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure relates to the field of preventing or treating virus infection, in particular, the disclosure relates to agents for vaccination against virus infection and inducing effective virus antigen-specific immune responses such as antibody and/or T cell responses and methods for generating and using such agents. Administration of agents such as RNA disclosed herein to a subject can protect the subject against virus infection. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to amino acid sequences comprising at least a portion of a virus protein having amino acid modifications found in other variants of the virus protein. Administration of RNA encoding one or more of the amino acid sequences may provide protection against diverse virus variants. Methods and agents described herein are, in particular, useful for the prevention or treatment of coronavirus infection such as SARS-CoV-2 infection.