Progress and challenge of vaccine development against 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) / 中华预防医学杂志

ABSTRACT

The outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection poses a serious threat to global public health. Vaccination is an effective way to prevent the epidemic of the virus. 2019-nCoV along with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) belong to the same β-genus of coronavirus family. Base on the previous experience and the technical platform of developing SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV vaccines, scientists from all over the world are working hard and quickly on the related fields. There are substantial progress in these fields including the characterizing the 2019-nCoV virus, identification of candidate antigens and epitopes, establishment of animal models, characterizing the immune responses, and the design of vaccines. The development of 2019-nCoV vaccines cover all types inactivated virus vaccine, recombinant protein vaccine, viral vector-based vaccine, mRNA vaccine, and DNA vaccine, et al. As of March 2020, two 2019-nCoV vaccines have entered phase I clinical trials. One is named as Ad5-nCoV developed by the Chinese Institute of Biotechnology of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences and Tianjin Cansino Biotechnology Inc. Ad5-nCoV is based on the replication-defective adenovirus type 5 as the vector to express 2019-nCoV spike protein. The another vaccine is mRNA-1273 developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Moderna, Inc.. RNA-1273 is an mRNA vaccine expressing 2019-nCoV spike protein. Although the rapid development of 2019-nCoV vaccine, it still faces many challenges with unknown knowledge, including the antigenic characteristics of the 2019-nCoV, the influence of antigenic variation, the protective immune response of host, the protection of the elderly population, and the downstream manufacturing process of the new vaccine. The safety and efficacy of vaccines are the first priority for vaccine development and should be carefully evaluated.