The European research consortium Prevent-nCoV, of which Wageningen University & Research (WUR) is a member, has submitted an application to test their candidate corona vaccine in a clinical study. The vaccine called ABNCoV2 has been developed by the Danish company Expres2ion Biotechnologies in cooperation with the other consortium partners and is now ready to be tested on humans. The clinical study will take place in the Netherlands.
The ABNCoV2 vaccine consists of a small component of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that can cause COVID-19. The vaccine is made in insect cells and is linked to a nanoparticle. Tests on mice have shown that the immune response is very good and that antibodies in the blood of vaccinated animals are able to neutralise the coronavirus.
Publication in Nature Communications
The research results of the research consortium were published in Nature Communications on Tuesday 12 January 2021 and provide an excellent basis for the further development of this new vaccine. A backup vaccine containing a component made by researchers at WUR is currently in the preclinical phase.