Abstract

Several COVID-19 vaccines have recently gained authorization for emergency use. Limited knowledge on duration of immunity and efficacy of these vaccines is currently available. Data on other coronaviruses after natural infection suggest that immunity to SARS-CoV-2 might be short-lived, and preliminary evidence indicates waning antibody titers following SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this work, we model the relationship between immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a series of Ad26 vectors encoding stabilized variants of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein in rhesus macaques and validate the analyses by challenging macaques 6 months after immunization with the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine candidate that has been selected for clinical development. We show that Ad26.COV2.S confers durable protection against replication of SARS-CoV-2 in the lungs that is predicted by the levels of Spike-binding and neutralizing antibodies, indicating that Ad26.COV2.S could confer durable protection in humans and immunological correlates of protection may enable the prediction of durability of protection.

Several COVID-19 vaccines have received emergency approval, but durability of protection is unclear. Here, the authors describe correlates of protection (CoP) for the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine in rhesus macaques and report that CoP predict the protection observed 6 months post vaccination.

Details

Title
SARS-CoV-2 binding and neutralizing antibody levels after Ad26.COV2.S vaccination predict durable protection in rhesus macaques
Author
Roozendaal Ramon 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Solforosi Laura 1 ; Stieh, Daniel J 1 ; Serroyen, Jan 1 ; Straetemans Roel 2 ; Dari Anna 2 ; Boulton, Muriel 2 ; Wegmann, Frank 1 ; Rosendahl Huber Sietske K 1 ; van der Lubbe Joan E M 1 ; Hendriks, Jenny 1 ; Le Gars Mathieu 1 ; Dekking Liesbeth 1 ; Czapska-Casey, Dominika N 1 ; Guimera Nuria 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Janssen, Sarah 1 ; Tete, Sarah 1 ; Chandrashekar Abishek 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Mercado, Noe B 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Yu Jingyou 3 ; Koudstaal Wouter 4 ; Perez-Ruixo, Juan J 5 ; Sadoff, Jerry 1 ; Barouch, Dan H 6   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Schuitemaker Hanneke 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Zahn, Roland 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

1  Janssen Vaccines & Prevention B.V., Leiden, The Netherlands (GRID:grid.497529.4) (ISNI:0000 0004 0625 7026) 
2  Janssen R&D, Beerse, Belgium (GRID:grid.497529.4) 
3  Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA (GRID:grid.239395.7) (ISNI:0000 0000 9011 8547) 
4  Lucidity Biomedical Consulting, Granada, Spain (GRID:grid.239395.7) 
5  Janssen R&D, Beerse, Belgium (GRID:grid.239395.7) 
6  Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA (GRID:grid.239395.7) (ISNI:0000 0000 9011 8547); Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, USA (GRID:grid.461656.6) (ISNI:0000 0004 0489 3491); Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA (GRID:grid.38142.3c) (ISNI:000000041936754X); Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness, Boston, USA (GRID:grid.38142.3c) (ISNI:000000041936754X) 
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20411723
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26117-x
ProQuest document ID
2579866209
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.