Development and Characterization of a Modified Vaccinia Ankara Vaccine Candidate Expressing the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Glycoprotein

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2. Given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the continued evolution of the virus to escape host immunity, new vaccines and refinement of first-generation vaccines to improve protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern is vital. In Africa, the cost of vaccine manufacturing as well as the scarcity in resources for storage and distribution have all contributed to the inequitable access to vaccines and heavy reliance on donations. Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara (MVA) is a low-cost production vector platform which is suitable in this context. This project falls into a bigger study where our group compared different vector platforms, including MVA. The project serves as a proof of concept that this platform can be used to produce vaccines encompassing different variants of SARS-CoV-2 as they emerge. The most recent variant, Omicron, has proven to be highly immune evasive and demonstrates this need well. As the virus mutates, the variants of concern each present with differing characteristics and subsequently differ in immunogenicity and pathogenicity. Sub-Saharan Africa has been ransacked by the pandemic, resulting in loss of lives and livelihoods; the effects of which will undoubtedly be felt for decades to come. This study had two aims: 1. The development of a candidate vaccine, MVA-SARS-CoV2-S∆TM by using the widely used MVA platform and poxvirus recombinant vaccine strategies used in our research group, 2. The testing of this vaccine's immunogenicity in mice. The MVA-based vaccine was constructed by infection of BHK21 cells with wildtype MVA, and transfection with transfer vector pMVA-FNK2. The transfer vector contains a truncated form of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein gene, the vaccinia virus host-range gene K1L and reporter gene eGFP, flanked by gene sequences to allow homologous recombination into MVA. The presence of the K1L gene in the recombinant virus allowed for selection by passaging in RK13 ...