Elicio Therapeutics has published preclinical data showing that its novel SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, ELI-005, elicited T-Cell responses over 25-fold higher than benchmark vaccines.
The first component of the vaccine is ELI-004, an Amphiphile (AMP) adjuvant with a hydrophobic albumin-binding lipid linked to a hydrophilic immune stimulating CpG DNA oligonucleotide (AMP-CpG).
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The second one is the Covid-19 Spike protein Receptor Binding Domain (RBD), the target of T cell and B cell-mediated neutralising coronavirus antibody responses in humans.
Elicio Therapeutics founding scientist and Research vice-president Peter DeMuth said: “Vaccine-induced T cell and antibody responses in humans have been observed to promote protection from Covid-19.
“We are excited to report that the enhanced lymph node targeting ability of ELI-005 magnified T cell and antibody responses that were also persistent for months after immunisation suggesting potential platform advantages for AMP vaccines in Covid-19 and beyond.
“We believe the amplified T cell response will provide increased durability compared to prior vaccine technologies.”
According to the preclinical data, the study observed T cells numbers of up to 25-fold higher than benchmark vaccines identified in peripheral blood and sites that offer the first line of defence against the disease, including lung tissue and respiratory fluid.
The vaccine induced 265-fold higher neutralising antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 protein antigens than those in convalescent Covid-19 patients.
Furthermore, six weeks after concluding the vaccine regimen, durable responses with no decline in T cell or antibody levels were noted.
Elicio Therapeutics noted that the T cell response generation through potent immune activation in the lymph nodes can potentially offer critical breadth of response to permit for extended immune memory, increased robust protection against emerging viral variants.
It can also offer promising response durability, which is linked to T cell mediated protection in the event of decreasing antibody levels.
