Vaccine candidate image from the Walter Reed Institute of Research
The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) is planning to announce positive early clinical results related to a novel nanoparticle-based COVID-19 vaccine, according to media reports.
A Phase 1 study involving the vaccine found that it was effective against omicron, other SARS-CoV-2 variants and other coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-1. That study began in April.
A preclinical study involving nonhuman primates was recently summarized in Science.
The Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle (SpFN) COVID-19 vaccine will be the subject of Phase 2 and Phase 3 studies, according to an article from Defense One.
Ferritin is an iron-carrying protein that forms a 24-unit sphere-shaped particle.
WRAIR Is also testing the ferritin nanoparticle–baed platform for vaccines for influenza and the Epstein-Barr virus.
Walter Reed has been working on the COVID-19 vaccine for almost two years, deciding early on to study how the SARS-CoV-2 virus might mutate.
The WRAIR study enrolled 72 adults who had neither been infected with COVID-19 nor received a COVID-19 vaccine.
Last November, the NIH announced it was providing funding for pan-coronavirus vaccine candidates.