Benzinga | Aug 3, 2020 08:36AM EDT

ImmunityBio Study Shows Positive T Cell and Antibody Immune Responses to its COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate that Targets Both Spike and Nucleocapsid Virus Proteins

* Preclinical results show this next generation Adeno (hAd5) vaccine, which targets both spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) SARS-CoV-2 proteins, generates CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses, both of which can form long-term immune memory.

* Inclusion of nucleocapsid in this vaccine construct potentially overcomes the risk of emerging mutations in spike, which might limit the efficacy of S-only vaccines.

* In the study, all of the mice (5 out of 5) generated robust CD4+ and CD8+ antigen-specific T cells to S and N proteins.

* Four out of five mice generated an S-specific antibody response, with evidence of Th1 dominance, and two of these mice demonstrated potent neutralizing antibodies.

* Previous clinical studies have shown that ImmunityBio's second generation hAd5 vector platform generates an immune response in patients with pre-existing immunity to adenoviruses, suggesting that prior adenovirus exposure is not a limitation for this platform during initial vaccination or a booster.