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- Sorrento scientists have perfected the expression of the spike protein to potentially improve the safety profile of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines by incorporating a furin cleavage site mutation to prevent leakage of S1 subunit into the blood circulation targeting vital organ tissues with ACE2 receptors for the spike proteins that may in part cause the undesirable side effects.
- Sorrento’s designer mRNA vaccine, utilizing a chimeric mRNA that incorporates the Delta receptor binding domain (RBD) into the Omicron spike protein, provided strong, broad-spectrum protection against both BA.1 and BA.2 sublineages of Omicron, and Delta variant in immunized animals.
- Sorrento intends to develop and seek EUA approval of this next-generation mRNA vaccine in Mexico and other developing countries.
SAN DIEGO, March 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRNE", Sorrento", )), a clinical and commercial stage biopharmaceutical company developing new therapies to treat cancer, pain and COVID-19, announced today the publication of a preprint entitled “Chimeric mRNA based COVID-19 vaccine induces protective immunity against Omicron and Delta.”
The preprint can be viewed at: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.03.04.483032v2
Compared to the original SARS-CoV-2 strain, the Omicron variant contains more than 30 additional mutations within the spike protein coding sequence, 15 of which reside in the receptor binding domain (RBD) that serve to increase the affinity of the Omicron spike binding to the human ACE2 receptor. These changes result in enhanced transmissibility and breakthrough cases in the presence of antibodies induced by vaccination with the wild-type SARS-CoV-2 spike mRNA vaccines.
During the past two years, Sorrento scientists explored various strategies to develop mRNA vaccines that can potentially provide broad and effective protection against predominant SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) as well as potential future variants. The newly designed mRNA vaccine incorporates a mutation in the furin cleavage site that prevents the S1 subunit cleavage from the spike protein anchored on the muscle cell membrane. This modification is introduced to prevent the leakage of S1 subunit from the expressed spike protein into the blood circulation, which is known in part to potentially cause undesirable side effects in vital organ tissues following administration of the current EUA-approved mRNA vaccines.
Serum collected from Omicron-specific mRNA vaccine immunized animals provided superior protection against the infection of Omicron strain, including the BA.1, BA.1+R346K and the more recent BA.2 sublineage that is battering many regions of the world, demonstrating this newly designed mRNA vaccine could induce potent production of Omicron-specific neutralization antibodies (nAbs) in vivo. Even…
Full story available on Benzinga.com
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