INO-4800 DNA vaccine induces neutralizing antibodies and T cell activity against global SARS-CoV-2 variants

Viviane M Andrade; Aaron Christensen-Quick; Joseph Agnes; Jared Tur; Charles Reed; Richa Kalia; Idania Marrero; Dustin Elwood; Katherine Schultheis; Mansi Purwar; Emma Reuschel; Trevor McMullan; Patrick Pezzoli; Kim Kraynyak; Albert Sylvester; Mammen P Mammen; Pablo Tebas; J Joseph Kim; David B Weiner; Trevor R F Smith; Stephanie J Ramos; Laurent M Humeau; Jean D Boyer; Kate E Broderick

doi:10.1038/s41541-021-00384-7

INO-4800 DNA vaccine induces neutralizing antibodies and T cell activity against global SARS-CoV-2 variants

NPJ Vaccines. 2021 Oct 14;6(1):121. doi: 10.1038/s41541-021-00384-7.

Authors

Viviane M Andrade¹, Aaron Christensen-Quick¹, Joseph Agnes¹, Jared Tur¹, Charles Reed¹, Richa Kalia¹, Idania Marrero¹, Dustin Elwood¹, Katherine Schultheis¹, Mansi Purwar², Emma Reuschel², Trevor McMullan¹, Patrick Pezzoli¹, Kim Kraynyak¹, Albert Sylvester¹, Mammen P Mammen¹, Pablo Tebas³, J Joseph Kim¹, David B Weiner², Trevor R F Smith¹, Stephanie J Ramos¹, Laurent M Humeau¹, Jean D Boyer¹, Kate E Broderick⁴

Affiliations

¹ Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Plymouth Meeting, PA, USA.
² Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center, Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
³ Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
⁴ Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Plymouth Meeting, PA, USA. [email protected].

Abstract

Global surveillance has identified emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) associated with broadened host specificity, pathogenicity, and immune evasion to vaccine-induced immunity. Here we compared humoral and cellular responses against SARS-CoV-2 VOC in subjects immunized with the DNA vaccine, INO-4800. INO-4800 vaccination induced neutralizing antibodies against all variants tested, with reduced levels detected against B.1.351. IFNγ T cell responses were fully maintained against all variants tested.