A Live Attenuated Sars-Cov-2 and a Vaccine Made Thereof

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This patent describes a novel live attenuated SARS-CoV-2 (the virus responsible for COVID-19) and a vaccine made from it. The core invention involves genetically modifying the SARS-CoV-2 virus using codon-pair deoptimization (which slows down viral replication without changing the viral proteins) and deleting or modifying the furin cleavage site in the spike protein (which further attenuates the virus and prevents its transmission). This combination creates a live virus that is much less virulent and cannot spread to others, yet still provokes a strong immune response, making it suitable as a vaccine.

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• Development of a safer live attenuated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine for human use.
• Vaccination campaigns in areas with high COVID-19 burden, including mass immunization.
• Vaccination via nasal or oral routes that closely mimic natural infection, potentially enhancing mucosal immunity.
• Use in animal models for research into SARS-CoV-2 immunity and vaccine development.
• Production of genetically stable vaccine virus stocks for large-scale vaccine manufacturing.

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Reduced risk of causing COVID-19 disease because the live virus is attenuated by two independent mechanisms (codon-pair deoptimization and furin site deletion).
• Prevents transmission of the vaccine virus to unvaccinated individuals, enhancing safety—especially for immunocompromised or vulnerable people.
• Strong immune response, including both systemic and mucosal immunity, potentially providing broader and longer-lasting protection.
• Improved genetic stability during vaccine production, resulting in a consistent and reliable product.
• Enhanced suitability for cost-effective, large-scale production using standard cell lines (such as Vero cells), as the modified virus grows well in these systems.
• Potential to protect against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants due to the use of whole virus antigens.

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Inventors & Applicants

Patent Abstract

The invention relates to a polynucleotide encoding a) severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein; and/or b) at least one non-structural SARS-CoV-2 protein selected from the group consisting of non-structural protein 7, non-structural protein 8, non-structural protein 9, non-structural protein 10, non-structural protein 11, non-structural protein 12, an endoribonuclease, and a 2'-O-methyltransferase, wherein the polynucleotide comprises or consists of at least one sequence part comprising codon-pair deoptimizations in comparison to the SARS-CoV-2 genome, and wherein the polynucleotide further comprises a furin cleavage site modification resulting in a loss of a furin cleavage site being naturally present in the SARS-CoV-2 genome. The invention further relates to a live attenuated SARS-CoV-2 comprising this polynucleotide, to a vaccine comprising this live attenuated SARS-CoV-2, as well as to associated methods.