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A group of researchers from the Butantan Institute in São Paulo is preparing an innovative vaccine to be tested against the coronavirus. The project builds on the knowledge gained from creating a method of immunization against schistosomiasis that is still being patented.
The objective is to find a response from the body that enhances both the production of antibodies and the reaction of leukocytes (white blood cells, mainly responsible for the body’s defense) in a double attack against the invading virus.
By repeating a strategy bacteria use to trick the immune system, the researchers will develop tiny, vesicle-like structures (called “OMVs”) coated with the coronavirus protein. What is expected is that OMVs trigger up to 100 times more antibody production than the body normally has when in contact with the same protein.
Vesicles with the coupled coronavirus protein would also stimulate the action of leukocytes, creating a kind of “defense memory” in case the person comes in contact with Sars-CoV-2 after being vaccinated. “We are going to look for a more comprehensive immune response: in our model, both antibodies and cell structures are involved,” says researcher Luciana Cezar Cerqueira Leite, from the Vaccine Development Laboratory of the Butantan Institute.
The “cat jump”, made from biotechnology, is the manufacture of vesicles and the way to attach the virus protein to them. “As we already have experiences with other diseases, this is a path taken,” guarantees the researcher. The expectation is that the Brazilian double attack vaccine can be tested in rats in the period between six months and one year.
The study, supported by the São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Fapesp), integrates a platform that involves the development of vaccines for whooping cough, pneumonia, tuberculosis and schistosomiasis. Recently, the line was added to develop a vaccine for Covid-19.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that at least 20 different immunization methods are being studied in various parts of the world. In recent weeks, groups of scientists from China and the United States have announced human tests.
