Optimized second-generation mRNA vaccine demonstrated improved protection against COVID-19 in preclinical testing

In a recent phase 2b/3 clinical trial, a third mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 — known as CVnCoV and developed by CureVac — reported approximately 48 percent efficacy against symptomatic disease. In a head-to-head test of a revised version of the vaccine, CV2CoV, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) assessed the vaccines’ ability to provoke an immune response as well as their protective efficacy against COVID-19 in non-human primates. Their findings, published in Nature, show the modifications made to the second-generation CV2nCoV induced a ten-fold higher antibody response than the original version, CVnCoV.

Release date: 18 November 2021
Source: Deaconess Medical Center