A groundbreaking new vaccine technology using artificial intelligence could offer immunity against entire families of viruses and protect against future mutations with a single injection.
Researchers say this could prevent future pandemics before they emerge, saving millions of lives and sparing countries from the necessity of lockdowns.
A “super-antigen” has been developed through AI machine learning that meticulously analyses past and current outbreaks to pinpoint the essential elements for the survival of viruses.
A world-first human trial has already demonstrated the safety of a coronavirus vaccine created using this technology, with more than 200 individuals to be recruited in a forthcoming phase II study.
Experts have lauded the approach as a “big paradigm change” from the current “reactive” system, which “struggles to keep pace” with evolving diseases.
However, the universal Sarbeco coronavirus vaccine, developed by the University of Cambridge and biotechnology company DIOSynVax, brings together features that are common in the whole family of viruses by taking all available genetic sequence data from around the world.
Professor Jonathan Heeney, from the lab of viral zoonotics at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Veterinary Medicine, said: “What that Covid pandemic taught us is how fast we can make vaccines, but we’re still using the old paradigm.
“This is about making one vaccine that will get them all based on their relationships.”
He added: “It not only predicts, but it targets what is essential for that virus family. We’re targeting something in a virus family, which the virus can’t change easily.”
A phase I trial, published in the Journal of Infection and sponsored by the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, included 49 healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 50 who had the vaccine in Cambridge and Southampton.
It was administered as a DNA vaccine through a microfluid jet, which is a needle-free method that uses a high-pressure, hair-thin stream of liquid to push vaccine blueprints directly into skin cells.
Researchers found the jab is safe and that it triggered an immune response to not only SARS-CoV-2 and SARS, but to related bat viruses that could potentially jump from animals to humans. A previous study in animals also found the jab sparked a strong immune response against a range of coronaviruses.
Prof Heeney is hopeful that the technology can be a “game changer” that makes vaccines “far better, broader, and give more robust protection”. It could provide broad protection from thousands of variants of viruses, such as ebola.
There is currently another epidemic of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, caused by the Bundibugyo virus.
Professor Saul Faust, of the University of Southampton and the trial’s chief investigator, said: “Viruses like influenza, coronaviruses and the Ebola group are evolving continuously and by the time vaccines are rolled out, they may be poorly matched – the current ‘reactive’ vaccine system struggles to keep pace.
“This new class of universal vaccines are future-proofed. They not only protect against many variants simultaneously, but potentially against related viruses that haven’t yet emerged and spilt over to humans.
“If we can develop and clinically advance this new class of vaccines before a virus outbreak begins, millions of lives could be saved, lockdowns avoided and the economy preserved.”
Professor Marian Knight, scientific director for the National Institute for Health and Care Research Infrastructure, said: “The remarkable success of this AI-designed ‘super-antigen’ trial marks a pivotal leap forward in our ability to deliver broad, lasting viral protection.”