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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Vaccines and Molecular Therapeutics
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1447962
This article is part of the Research Topic Transforming Vaccine Strategies: Co-Delivery Systems for Robust Immunity and Disease Control View all articles

CoviWall, a whole-virion inactivated B.1.617.2, induces potent humoral and Th1 response in mice and the vaccine protects against B.1.617.2 (Delta) challenge in Syrian hamsters.

Provisionally accepted
Jyotsna Dandotiya Jyotsna Dandotiya 1Neeta Adhikari Neeta Adhikari 1Manas Ranjan Tripathy Manas Ranjan Tripathy 1Kamini Jakhar Kamini Jakhar 1SUDIPTA SONAR SUDIPTA SONAR 1Dibya Ranjan Pati Dibya Ranjan Pati 2Vibhu Kanchan Vibhu Kanchan 2Varsha S Prasad Varsha S Prasad 2Jitendra Mishra Jitendra Mishra 2Nitesh K Senapati Nitesh K Senapati 2Arti Bharmoria Arti Bharmoria 2Neeraj Rani Neeraj Rani 2Monika Lakhanpal Monika Lakhanpal 2C S Patil C S Patil 2Nishan Singh Nishan Singh 2Lovely Khan Lovely Khan 2Lovit Jambu Lovit Jambu 2Naveen K Jain Naveen K Jain 2Syed Khalid Ali Syed Khalid Ali 2Priyanka Priyadarsiny Priyanka Priyadarsiny 2Amulya K Panda Amulya K Panda 2Rajesh Jain Rajesh Jain 2Shailendra Mani Shailendra Mani 1Sweety Samal Sweety Samal 1Amit Awasthi Amit Awasthi 1*Zaigham Abbas Rizvi Zaigham Abbas Rizvi 1*
  • 1 Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad, India
  • 2 Panacea Biotec (India), New Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi, India

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Rapid development of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines and antiviral drugs has significantly reduced morbidity and mortality worldwide. While most of the vaccines were developed initially with the ancestral Wuhan antigen, here we report the development and immunological efficacy of a whole virion-inactivated vaccine candidate (CoviWall) to combat the deadly B.1.617.2 (Delta strain) infection. In the current study, we demonstrate a consistent manufacturing process under GMP for the development of CoviWall and its characterization using various analytical methods as per regulatory compliance. In addition, we provide pre-clinical immunogenicity and protective efficacy data of the CoviWall vaccine. All the three test doses (i.e. low dose, mid-dose, and high dose) immunized in C57BL/6 mice elicited a high titer of anti-RBD (receptor binding domain) antibody and neutralizing antibody response against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) after 2nd booster dose. In addition, CoviWall immunization also produced a robust T-cell response in the animals. Our protective efficacy data indicates that immunized hamsters show attenuated clinical manifestations of COVID-19 with dramatically reduced lung viral load. Moreover, assessment of pulmonary histopathology revealed lower cellular injury, inflammation, and pneumonia in the vaccinated hamsters as compared to unvaccinated animals. Such promising results augur well for the clinical phase I trial of the CoviWall vaccine and further development against contagious SARS-CoV-2 strains in future.

    Keywords: CoviWall, COVID-19-vaccine, Immunogenicity, hamster, delta, Th1, humoral response

    Received: 12 Jun 2024; Accepted: 16 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Dandotiya, Adhikari, Tripathy, Jakhar, SONAR, Pati, Kanchan, Prasad, Mishra, Senapati, Bharmoria, Rani, Lakhanpal, Patil, Singh, Khan, Jambu, Jain, Ali, Priyadarsiny, Panda, Jain, Mani, Samal, Awasthi and Rizvi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Amit Awasthi, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad, India
    Zaigham Abbas Rizvi, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad, India

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.