Protective efficacy of Ad26.COV2.S against SARS-CoV-2 B.1.351 in macaques

Jingyou Yu, Lisa H. Tostanoski, Noe B. Mercado, Katherine McMahan, Jinyan Liu, Catherine Jacob-Dolan, Abishek Chandrashekar, Caroline Atyeo, David R. Martinez, Tochi Anioke, Esther A. Bondzie, Aiquan Chang, Sarah Gardner, Victoria M. Giffin, David L. Hope, Felix Nampanya, Joseph Nkolola, Shivani Patel, Owen Sanborn, Daniel Sellers, Huahua Wan, Tammy Hayes, Katherine Bauer, Laurent Pessaint, Daniel Valentin, Zack Flinchbaugh, Renita Brown, Anthony Cook, Deandre Bueno-Wilkerson, Elyse Teow, Hanne Andersen, Mark G. Lewis, Amanda J. Martinot, Ralph S. Baric, Galit Alter, Frank Wegmann, Roland Zahn, Hanneke Schuitemaker and Dan H. Barouch ()
Additional contact information
Jingyou Yu: Harvard Medical School
Lisa H. Tostanoski: Harvard Medical School
Noe B. Mercado: Harvard Medical School
Katherine McMahan: Harvard Medical School
Jinyan Liu: Harvard Medical School
Catherine Jacob-Dolan: Harvard Medical School
Abishek Chandrashekar: Harvard Medical School
Caroline Atyeo: Harvard Medical School
David R. Martinez: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Tochi Anioke: Harvard Medical School
Esther A. Bondzie: Harvard Medical School
Aiquan Chang: Harvard Medical School
Sarah Gardner: Harvard Medical School
Victoria M. Giffin: Harvard Medical School
David L. Hope: Harvard Medical School
Felix Nampanya: Harvard Medical School
Joseph Nkolola: Harvard Medical School
Shivani Patel: Harvard Medical School
Owen Sanborn: Harvard Medical School
Daniel Sellers: Harvard Medical School
Huahua Wan: Harvard Medical School
Tammy Hayes: Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
Katherine Bauer: Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
Laurent Pessaint: Bioqual
Daniel Valentin: Bioqual
Zack Flinchbaugh: Bioqual
Renita Brown: Bioqual
Anthony Cook: Bioqual
Deandre Bueno-Wilkerson: Bioqual
Elyse Teow: Bioqual
Hanne Andersen: Bioqual
Mark G. Lewis: Bioqual
Amanda J. Martinot: Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
Ralph S. Baric: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Galit Alter: MIT and Harvard
Frank Wegmann: Janssen Vaccines & Prevention
Roland Zahn: Janssen Vaccines & Prevention
Hanneke Schuitemaker: Janssen Vaccines & Prevention
Dan H. Barouch: Harvard Medical School

Nature, 2021, vol. 596, issue 7872, 423-427

Abstract: Abstract The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants that partially evade neutralizing antibodies poses a threat to the efficacy of current COVID-19 vaccines1,2. The Ad26.COV2.S vaccine expresses a stabilized spike protein from the WA1/2020 strain of SARS-CoV-2, and has recently demonstrated protective efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 in humans in several geographical regions—including in South Africa, where 95% of sequenced viruses in cases of COVID-19 were the B.1.351 variant3. Here we show that Ad26.COV2.S elicits humoral and cellular immune responses that cross-react with the B.1.351 variant and protects against B.1.351 challenge in rhesus macaques. Ad26.COV2.S induced lower binding and neutralizing antibodies against B.1.351 as compared to WA1/2020, but elicited comparable CD8 and CD4 T cell responses against the WA1/2020, B.1.351, B.1.1.7, P.1 and CAL.20C variants. B.1.351 infection of control rhesus macaques resulted in higher levels of virus replication in bronchoalveolar lavage and nasal swabs than did WA1/2020 infection. Ad26.COV2.S provided robust protection against both WA1/2020 and B.1.351, although we observed higher levels of virus in vaccinated macaques after B.1.351 challenge. These data demonstrate that Ad26.COV2.S provided robust protection against B.1.351 challenge in rhesus macaques. Our findings have important implications for vaccine control of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03732-8

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