STTR Phase II: VaxMAP a single dose multivalent vaccine to produce durable and cross-reactive immunity against various coronaviruses

小企业技术转让（STTR）第二阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力将解决对更有效疫苗的未满足需求，这些疫苗可以快速部署，以减少病原体出现和疫苗开发之间的滞后时间，最大限度地减少社会经济影响，如COVID-19大流行中所见的影响。这项新的疫苗技术有可能在未来新病原体爆发期间大大改善美国公民的生活。此外，这项新技术有可能产生积极的影响，为全世界提供高价值的美国产品，并在研究领域和生物技术产品的制造方面为美国创造就业机会。STTR第二阶段项目的成功完成将使该公司拥有一项具有潜在的多重合作机会的技术，包括开发SARS-CoV-2疫苗抗原的生物技术和制药企业。通过开发这种新的疫苗平台技术，该公司将能够进入全球疫苗市场的重要部分，预计到2021年将达到610亿美元，预计到2028年将增长到1250亿美元。这个小企业技术转让（STTR）第二阶段项目将使该公司能够开发一个新的疫苗平台，对新出现的病原体具有强大和持久的疫苗接种反应。尽管有效的COVID-19疫苗现已可用于对抗始于2019年的全球大流行，但它们面临着重大限制，包括对新传播变种的效力降低，需要多次接种，以及由于冷链问题而具有挑战性的分销途径。研究目的是确定疫苗在小鼠免疫模型中的最佳剂量，了解其免疫应答的持久性，评估疫苗对不同SARS-CoV-2变体的保护性免疫力，评估疫苗的保质期稳定性并制定监管计划。根据成功的初步数据，预计新产品将通过提供持久的免疫应答产生针对SARS-CoV-2多种变体的保护性免疫，与目前的疫苗相比，这种免疫应答将导致更持久的感染保护。此外，新疫苗平台的保质期和储存条件预计将有助于分销和储存，因为预计不会出现激烈的冷链物流。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II project will address the unmet need for more effective vaccines that can be rapidly deployed to decrease the lag time between pathogen emergence and vaccine development, minimizing socioeconomic effects such as those seen in the COVID-19 pandemic. This new vaccine technology has the potential to drastically improve the lives of US citizens during future outbreaks of new pathogens. Further, this new technology has the potential to have positive impacts by providing high value US products for the whole world and generating US jobs both in research fields and manufacturing of biotechnology products. Successful completion of this STTR phase II project will position the company with a technology that has potential multiple partnership opportunities including biotechnology and pharmaceutical businesses developing antigens for vaccines against SARS-CoV-2. By developing this new vaccine platform technology, the company will be able to gain access to a significant segment of the global vaccine market estimated at $61 billion in 2021 and projected to grow to $125 billion by 2028. This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II project will enable the company to pursue the development of a new vaccine platform with robust and long-lasting vaccination responses against emergent pathogens. Although effective COVID-19 vaccines are now available to fight the global pandemic that started in 2019, they are facing significant limitations including diminished efficacy against new spreading variants, requirements for multiple doses, and challenging distribution pathways due to cold chain issues. The research objectives are to determine the optimal dose of the vaccine in a murine immunization model, understand the durability of its immune response, assess the vaccine's protective immunity against different SARS-CoV-2 variants, evaluate the vaccine shelf-life stability and develop a regulatory plan. Based on the successful preliminary data, it is anticipated that the new product will generate protective immunity against multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 by providing a long-lasting immune response that will result in longer-lasting protection against infection when compared to current vaccines. Furthermore, the shelf-life and storage conditions of the new vaccine platform are anticipated to facilitate distribution and stockpiling, as no drastic cold chain logistics are expected.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.