Nano particulate based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine – NANO-SARS-CoV-2

The objective of the NANO-SARS-CoV-2 project is to develop an anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine platform made of biocompatible nanoparticles encapsulating SARS-CoV-2 S and N antigenic candidates or associating SARS-CoV VLPs -2 in order to induce humoral and cellular immune responses at mucosal and systemic levels.

This multidisciplinary project involves three research teams (BioMAP and BIP from the UMR ISP 1282 University of Tours, AGIR - UR UPJV 4294 from the University of Picardie Jules Verne), a R&D biotech and a Bioproduction institute. These 5 structures are very complementary with pre-existing technical know-how for each partner.

As part of this project, the focus will be on:

-The production of SARS-CoV-2 VLPs and soluble proteins S and N.

-The development and characterization of the 2 nanoparticulate formulations based on encapsulating SARS-CoV-2 S + N proteins or associating SARS-CoV-2 VLP and the delivery in immune cells.

- The characterization of the immunogenicity at systemic and mucosal levels of the 2 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates with in vivo study of the cellular (CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes and CD4+ T helper cells) and humoral (ELISAs and neutralizing assay and ADE evaluation) immune response after nasal and sub-cutaneous vaccination in a BALB/ c mouse model.

- and finally, the development of efficient pre-industrial method for the large-scale production of N and S antigens and VLPs of SARS-CoV-2 in order to optimize the production of the vaccine platform and to generate proof of concept in animal models of infectious challenge.

The deliverable will be a nanoparticulate mucosal vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2 including the following features:
1 / the humoral and cellular immune response will have been studied in both the mucosal and systemic compartments in a murine model,
2 / the production will have been started at a semi-industrial level in a GMP-like environment,
3 / the vaccination schedule will be easy to implement since a single product is proposed for prime and boost.