(Fight against new crown pneumonia) analysis of the new crown recombinant subunit protein vaccine: accurate identification of the core part of the virus
China News Service, Beijing, April 1 Title: Analysis of the new crown recombinant subunit protein vaccine: accurate identification of the core part of the virus
China News Service reporter Li Chun
In a recent interview with a reporter from China News Agency, Dai Lianpan, a researcher at the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, pointed out that a major feature of the new crown recombinant subunit protein vaccine is more accurate, "so that the antibody can accurately identify the most core part of the virus."
The recombinant novel coronavirus vaccine (CHO cells), jointly developed by the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and partner companies, was approved for emergency use in China on March 10. This is the fourth covid-19 vaccine approved for emergency use in China, and the first internationally approved clinically used recombinant subunit protein vaccine for clinical use.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic in 2020, under the leadership of Gao Fu, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the scientific and technological research team, including Yan Jinghua and Dai Lianpan, researchers of the institute, has designed a universal vaccine construction strategy for infectious diseases of the β coronavirus. Based on this research breakthrough, the Institute and partner companies jointly developed a recombinant subunit protein vaccine for the new crown virus.
According to Dai Lianpan, the recombinant protein vaccine has simple components, high yields and safe production, and can be produced in factories that do not require biosafety levels. This technology has been applied to the research and development of vaccines such as hepatitis B and shingles, and is a relatively mature technical route with long-term safety records.
At present, the phase III clinical trial of the new coronavirus recombinant subunit protein vaccine is still in progress, and the relevant data have not yet been blinded. Dai Lianpan said, but from the results of phase I and PHASE II clinical trials, the safety and efficacy of vaccines have good performance.
In terms of safety, no serious adverse reaction events associated with the vaccine occurred, and most of the subjects did not experience adverse reactions. A small number of mild or mild to moderate adverse reactions, including redness and swelling at the vaccination site, pain, and low-grade fever, are within the expected range and can resolve spontaneously in a short period of time.
In terms of effectiveness, the results of both phases of clinical trials show that vaccines produce twice as many neutralizing antibodies as patients recovering from COVID-19. "Especially considering that the level of neutralizing antibodies is directly related to protection, so we expect the vaccine to have a good protective effect."
In the first two phases of clinical trials, participants were healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 59. After obtaining the relevant data, the research team carried out clinical trials in the aging group, and the results also showed good safety and efficacy. "Because there are data from the aging group, the elderly will also be within the scope of (the vaccine) vaccination, and emergency use also includes the elderly." Dai Lianpan said.
At present, four new crown vaccines in China have been approved for conditional listing, and the number of vaccinated vaccines is gradually increasing, why is it necessary to put recombinant protein vaccines into emergency use?
"Right now [vaccine] capacity is a big problem." Dai Lianpan pointed out that the base of Chinese mouths is huge, and there is still a long way to go from establishing an immune barrier, that is, 70% or 80% of the population has immunity. "So we hope to roll out some of the vaccines that are now effective and closest to use as soon as possible, so that the immune barrier can be established a day earlier."
The four COVID-19 vaccines, which are already conditionally listed, contain two technical routes. Among them, the adenovirus vector vaccine is given in a single-dose procedure, and the inactivated vaccine needs to be given again three weeks after the first dose.
The China News Service reporter learned that the new coronavirus recombinant subunit protein vaccine approved for emergency use this time requires three injections, and each injection needs to be separated by one month. This is the same as the previous protein subunit vaccines such as hepatitis B vaccine and cervical cancer vaccine, which require three doses.
Dai Lianpan said that the vaccination of two doses can already produce a neutralizing antibody level that is slightly lower than the serum of the recovered patient. After the third dose, the neutralizing antibody level will double and the immune effect will be more durable.
At present, when it comes to the battle between vaccines and the new crown virus, whether it can defeat the mutation of the virus is a topic of great concern. According to media reports, the recombinant subunit protein vaccine developed by the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences can cope with the mutant strain of the new crown virus.
Dai Lianpan also told reporters that researchers used the serum of clinical subjects during the trial phase, the prototype strain of the new coronavirus and the South African strain (501Y. V2) was neutralized and found that although the neutralizing effect of the serum on the South African strain was slightly reduced, it still maintained most of the neutralizing activity. This also suggests that the vaccine has a certain protective effect on this new variant of the new coronavirus.
He also said that whether it is possible to design a more broad-spectrum protective and universal COVID-19 vaccine for those unknown and possible virus variants is also a topic that the research team is studying. "There are also some international reports, and some of our own preliminary studies show that there is still a possibility of this potential." (End)
Source: China News Network