Second-generation COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective and could help pave the way to tackle RSV and HMPV – ABC News

Three years after being shelved, a human trial of a Queensland COVID-19 vaccine has shown it is safe and effective but it's unlikely to be used to tackle the coronavirus any time soon.

Rather, researchers from the University of Queensland (UQ) hope a re-engineered version will pave the way for the vaccine technology to be further developed for potential use against other life-threatening respiratory viruses, such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

The preliminary results of UQ's second-generation COVID vaccine come three years after its original COVID shot was abandoned after patients falsely tested positive to HIV.

The trial for the updated vaccine, which involved 70 volunteers, compared UQ's re-engineered molecular clamp technology with the approved Novavax jab, which began rolling out in Australia in February last year.

UQ molecular virologist Keith Chappell, who co-invented the technology that underpins the vaccine, said the trial of the updated version dubbed Clamp2 showed it to be "functionally equivalent" with Novavax.

"There was no difference at all in safety," Dr Chappell said.

"And in terms of the neutralising immune response, it was comparable."

He said UQ's commercialisation company UniQuest had licensed the technology to start-up biopharmaceutical company ViceBio.

ViceBio, which was founded to develop UQ's patented molecular clamp, is expected to launch human trials next year of a combined vaccine against RSV and human metapneumovirus (HMPV).

"We're very excited," Dr Chappell said.

"They're taking the technology forward for pathogens that are of great concern. It's looking great."

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) last year committed up to $8.5 million to continue the development of Clamp2 for use in the global response to future pandemics.

CEPI strives towards vaccines being developed within 100 days of a new virus emerging a goal known as the 100 Days Mission.

"There's going to be more pandemics, that's a given," Dr Chappell said.

"Our goal over the next few years is to pressure test ourselves and hopefully get everything in place so that we can respond as quickly as possible."

UQ scientists are in discussions with CEPI about future research involving the molecular clamp.

"Our hope is that we'll be given a novel virus, one that's not a disease threat, and we'll run through the process in real time and see whether we can produce a vaccine at the end of that," Dr Chappell said.

"There are thousands and thousands of different viruses out there. There's a wealth of novel viruses we could use to put ourselves to the test."

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At this stage, ViceBio has no plans to turn Clamp2 into a COVID vaccine, despite the promising results of the proof-of-concept trial.

"Our view is that the COVID vaccines that are out there and available are effective and it's not the biggest priority to bring a new one to the market at this stage," Dr Chappell said.

In line with CEPI's equitable access policy, UQ has agreed that vaccine candidates produced in outbreak situations using the molecular clamp technology will be available to at-risk populations, including low and middle-income countries.

Participants in the proof-of-concept COVID vaccine trial will be monitored regularly for six months after receiving the jab.

The original UQ clamp technology contained two fragments of a protein found in HIV.

The fragments acted like a chemical bulldog clip, holding together an engineered version of the spike protein found on the surface of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

That worked by allowing the immune system to recognise and attack the spike protein, producing protective antibodies.

Dr Chappell said Clamp2 used a different molecule in place of the HIV fragments, with none of the diagnostic interference of the abandoned COVID vaccine.

"The second-generation molecular clamp has taken us the last three years to develop but it's looking great," he said.

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Second-generation COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective and could help pave the way to tackle RSV and HMPV - ABC News