Kansas State University signs research agreement for COVID-19 vaccine candidate

Kansas State University has signed a new preclinical research and option agreement with Tonix Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, to develop a vaccine candidate for the prevention of COVID-19. The inventor of the technology, Waithaka Mwangi, professor of diagnostic pathobiology in the K-State College of Veterinary Medicine, will direct the research, which is based on a new vaccine platform that his research team developed for bovine parainfluenza 3 virus, known as BPI3V, which is closely related to human parainfluenza 3 virus.

“A weakened BPI3V has previously been shown to be an effective vaccine vehicle in humans. More importantly, following extensive testing, BPI3V was shown to be safe and stable in infants and children,” Mwangi said. “The vector is well suited for mucosal immunization using a nasal atomizer, but it can also be injected. Therefore, BPI3V is suitable for development of COVID-19 vaccine candidates.”

The researchers focused on the most critical protein of coronaviruses: the spike protein. When a person is exposed to the virus, this protein is involved in the infection of the host cell. The vaccine candidate developed at K-State has been engineered to display the spike protein in a manner that mimics the actual virus.

While the majority of vaccines that are currently being developed will be injected into the body, according to Mwangi, the best vaccine will be one that will trigger immune protection, such as Immunoglobulin A, or IgA, at the mucosal surface, the portal of virus entry. IgA plays a crucial role in the immune function of mucous membranes. Instead of being injected, Mwangi’s vaccine candidate would be sprayed in the nose to trigger the IgA response and block the virus’s spike protein from infecting the host cells. The vaccine will also induce T cell responses capable of killing infected cells.

The research agreement, coordinated through K-State Innovation Partners, is the fourth license agreement between K-State and corporate partners on technologies related to COVID-19.

Read the full story from The Emporia Gazette here.