Ahead of the world! Taiwan Academia Sinica develops the first Omicron strain mRNA vaccine. Multiple injections are expected to produce "broadly effective antibodies"
Taiwan Academia Sinica leads other countries in launching the first Omicron strain mRNA vaccine
Taiwan is the first country in the world to launch the first next-generation mRNA vaccine targeting Omicron. Tao Mihua, CEO of the Taiwan Academia Sinica Biomedical Translation Research Center and researcher at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, said in a joint interview with the media that mRNA has the advantage of rapid manufacturing, and a vaccine development plan for the Omincron variant will begin in December 2021. The vaccine production was completed within one week, and a preprint of the paper was published in the January 28th issue of this year. It will be published in an official journal in the future.
Tao Mihua said that Taiwan Academia Sinica has promoted the “Alpha Project” in order to promptly solve major key national issues and accelerate the development of research results, and has been working hard to establish an mRNA vaccine platform. After the Omicron mutant strain appeared, this virus strain was selected as the target for vaccine development.
Taiwan Academia Sinica divided the mice into five experimental groups and administered the mRNA vaccines from the original strain to the Omricron strain respectively. If it was a booster injection, the Delta strain vaccine and the Omicron strain vaccine were administered, which would produce broad-spectrum comprehensive antibodies. . It is worth noting that when one of the vaccines that mixed the Delta strain and Omicron was administered to mice vaccinated for the first time, the concentration of neutralizing antibodies against Omicron was found to be nearly 37 times higher.
Multiple infections and injections may produce broadly active coronavirus antibodies
Tao Mihua said that from the current research results of Taiwan Academia Sinica, the antibody response generated after the additional dose of vaccine is a broad-acting antibody response. Some patients have also found that patients who were infected with the first-generation SARS coronavirus in 2017 or 8 , after being infected with the new coronavirus, the antibodies produced are also broadly effective.
In addition, this trial also showed that there was no significant difference in the broad-spectrum antibodies produced when the three vaccines, Omicron strain, original strain, and Delta strain, were injected as additional doses. Therefore, the existing Wuhan strain vaccine may be the most convenient and feasible for additional injections. However, in the future, which vaccine will be the most protective for people under the age of 12 or those who have not been vaccinated before will still depend on the public health policies of each country.
“This shows that when the human body faces the new coronavirus, it has the opportunity to produce broad-spectrum antibodies after multiple different vaccine injections or multiple infections, making it more and more resistant to possible future mutant strains, but it still needs time to prove “Tao Mihua said that in a situation where the virus may continue to mutate, Taiwan Academia Sinica can quickly complete the vaccine design and experimental process, and has the opportunity to launch next-generation vaccine products that can combat different mutant strains.
Next-generation vaccines have a wide range of applications. Can Taiwan independently produce them?
However, does Taiwan have the capabilities and resources to independently complete the development and production of next-generation vaccines? Tao Mihua pointed out that Taiwan Academia Sinica has currently only completed animal experiments in the laboratory. After publishing formal research papers, it still needs to overcome production and manufacturing, seek qualified raw materials and GMP manufacturers, and conduct pharmacological, efficacy and toxicity analyses. It will enter the review and human clinical trial stages, and the mass production time has not yet been determined.
The application of next-generation vaccines is not limited to fighting the new coronavirus. Tao Mihua explained that mRNA technology is expected to be used for Zika virus, avian influenza virus, and can also be used to develop cancer vaccines, allergic diseases, cell therapy, stem cell therapy, etc. .
Further reading:
Omicron can live for 8 days! Are there high risks of infection when picking up packages or staying in hotels? Zhao Mingwei analyzes “unblocking conditions”
