COVID 19: a rapidly scaleable SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in insect cells

保护个体免受COVID-19等冠状病毒侵害的最佳验证方法是针对颗粒周围的刺突蛋白，该蛋白在细胞附着和病毒进入细胞中起着关键作用。制造用于疫苗的刺突蛋白最安全的方法之一是使用一种基于只能在昆虫细胞中生长的病毒的生产系统。这种杆状病毒可以被重新编程以制造COVID-19刺突蛋白。一旦修饰的杆状病毒被用来感染生物反应器中繁殖的昆虫细胞，就会导致刺突蛋白释放到支持细胞生长的液体培养基中。然后可以提取、纯化刺突蛋白，与佐剂混合，用作疫苗。佐剂有助于刺激接种疫苗者的免疫力，以确保免受COVID-19的侵害，并具有额外的优势，即有助于防止可能对肺部造成损害的疫苗不良反应。我们计划与主要疫苗公司Vaxine Pty Ltd合作，在12个月内生产首批用于第一阶段试验的COVID-19疫苗，并设计用于优化大规模生产的工艺。

The best validated approach to protect individuals against coronaviruses such as COVID-19 is to target the spike protein that surrounds the particle and which plays a key role in cellular attachment and virus cell entry. One of the safest ways to make spike protein for use in a vaccine is to use a production system based on a virus that can only grow in insect cells. This baculovirus can be reprogrammed to make the COVID-19 spike protein. Once the modified baculovirus is used to infect insect cells propagated in bioreactors, it results in the release of the spike protein into the liquid medium supporting growth of the cells. The spike protein can then be extracted, purified, mixed with an adjuvant and used as a vaccine. The adjuvant helps to stimulate immunity in those receiving the vaccine to ensure protection from COVID-19 and has the added advantage that it helps to protect against adverse vaccine reactions that may cause damage to the lungs. With our partner Vaxine Pty Ltd, a major vaccine company, we plan to have initial batches of COVID-19 vaccine produced for Phase 1 trials and processes designed for optimised large scale manufacture within 12 months.