Recent research from Duke University could help develop vaccines for future pandemics before they even emerge.

Duke researchers say a new vaccine in development has the potential to protect against a broad range of coronavirus infections. Called a pan-coronavirus vaccine, it has been 100 percent effective in non-human testing, including tests on primates.

Dr. Bart Haynes, director of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, said he is optimistic about the results of these early trials.

“Our vaccines induced higher immune responses in monkeys than some of the other vaccines have,” Haynes said. “So we’re optimistic that once we get into humans we’ll see really good immune responses.”

Researchers used previous information on HIV virus mutants to study how to create a pan-coronavirus vaccine, which means the vaccine could prevent future coronaviruses from mutating.

At a Duke Research panel, Kevin Saunders, the director of research for the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, shared findings from studies on the new vaccine.

“What we found in that study is we got antibodies stimulated such that it was able to bind not only to SARS-CoV2, but also to coronaviruses that circulate in animals,” Saunders said.

Haynes echoed Saunders comments on the importance of studying this new vaccine as he expects future coronavirus pandemics or outbreaks to occur.

“We’ve had two major outbreaks before COVID-19, one in 2003, the SARS outbreak, and one in 2011, the MERS outbreak,” Haynes said. “Both coronaviruses, and certainly we expect others. So, now is the time to provide the vaccine that will prepare for those.”

Once the Duke vaccine is approved for humans, researchers will put it through a phase 1 safety trial. This would allow this new vaccine to be used as a booster vaccine in years to come.

Saunders said, from a scientific standpoint, he has seen a lot of achievements and milestones during the COVID-19 vaccine development which many previously thought impossible.

“To move a vaccine so quickly through phase 1 and phase 2 and phase 3 testing and make it into emergency use over the short period of time it took was unprecedented,” Saunders said. “To be able to make that many doses that quickly is also unprecedented.”

Haynes said work from the COVID-19 vaccine paves way for more vaccines to be developed and deployed quicker in the event of a future pandemic.

 

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