What do we know about the US Army’s highly anticipated Covid vaccine?

Announcement of pathbreaking research raises hopes for a new breadth of immunity to Covid variants and other coronaviruses

As the Biden administration ramps up its efforts to combat the Omicron variant of Covid-19, the US Army has announced a potential breakthrough in the fight against the virus: a new vaccine, still in trial, that may offer protection from all current variants.

Specifically, the Army claims that the shot “not only elicits a potent immune response but may also provide broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern as well as other coronaviruses”.

If the optimism in the news proves well-founded, the vaccine could put the world on a very different footing when it comes to confronting new coronaviruses – and could potentially provide a level of protection against future Covid-19 variants as the virus continues to evolve.

What kind of vaccine is this?

The shot is currently named Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle Covid-19 vaccine, or SpFN. It has been developed by scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), who are seeking to provide protection against as many coronaviruses variants as possible.

This is known as the “pan-SARS” strategy. According to Kayvon Modjarrad, director of WRAIR’s Emerging Infectious Diseases Branch and head of the Army’s vaccine development effort, the aim is “to develop a ‘pan-coronavirus’ vaccine technology that could potentially offer safe, effective and durable protection against multiple coronavirus strains and species”.

According to Defense One, which first reported the vaccine’s development, the vaccine uses entirely different technology to the Covid-19 shots currently in use around the world. Instead of the mRNA method or viral vectorvaccines, SpFN will use a soccer ball-shaped protein with 24 faces, each containing a different coronavirus spike protein.

According to Mr Modjarrad, “The repetitive and ordered display of the coronavirus spike protein on a multi-faced nanoparticle may stimulate immunity in such a way as to translate into significantly broader protection.”

How far along is the process?

The vaccine has completed animal trials, and phase one of the three-phase human trial process began in April this year.

Recruiting people to take part in the study was reportedly difficult because the researchers needed subjects who had neither been vaccinated nor been infected – and many of those not yet vaccinated would hardly be willing to take part in a vaccine trial, least of all one using a new technology.

The preliminary results of phase one are expected to be released this month, say researchers, but the animal trials showed that it can protect non-human primates from coronavirus diseases – including not just Covid-19, but the original SARS virus that killed some 774 people in 2002-2004.

The WRIAR team has also developed another vaccine candidate, known as the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Receptor-Binding Domain Ferritin Nanoparticle (RFN) vaccine, which it says may also offer broad protection against Covid-19 variants.

What difference could the vaccine make?

The scientists’ hope is that the vaccine will not just prove effective against future variants of Covid-19, but that it will help the world head off future pandemics threatened by pathogens that have yet to emerge.

As WRAIR’s Dr Nelson Michael put it, “our investment in developing a next generation vaccine is an important step towards getting ahead of COVID-19 and future disease threats.”