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

保护个人免受新冠肺炎等冠状病毒侵袭的最有效方法是瞄准包裹在颗粒周围的尖峰蛋白，这种蛋白在细胞附着和病毒细胞进入过程中发挥关键作用。制造疫苗中使用的Spike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。这种杆状病毒可以重新编程，制造新冠肺炎尖峰蛋白。一旦使用改良的杆状病毒感染在生物反应器中繁殖的昆虫细胞，它就会导致刺突蛋白释放到支持细胞生长的液体介质中。然后，这种尖峰蛋白可以被提取、纯化，与佐剂混合，并用作疫苗。这种佐剂有助于刺激接种疫苗的人的免疫力，以确保免受新冠肺炎的保护，并且还有一个额外的优势，即它有助于防止可能对肺部造成损害的疫苗不良反应。与我们的合作伙伴、大型疫苗公司瓦克辛有限公司合作，我们计划在12个月内生产出第一批新冠肺炎疫苗，用于第一阶段试验和优化的大规模生产工艺。

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.