Ravindran 2023 compared immune responses to adenoviral vector-based COVID-19 vaccines in rhesus macaques and mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) in humans. Both vaccine types elicited strong IgG and neutralizing antibody responses, with similar dynamics of antibody production and waning over time in macaques and humans. Moderna's vaccine induced slightly higher and more durable antibody levels than Pfizer’s, while neutralization breadth was reduced against some variants. The findings support the use of NHPS as predictive models for human immune responses and emphasize antibody levels as key metrics for vaccine evaluation.
Milestone
4.1.h
Immunobridging
In progress
Conduct side-by-side studies of vaccine candidates in humans and NHPs that are aligned as closely as possible—such as by using similar dosing and schedules—to inform immunobridging from animals to humans.
Progress Highlights
Rossler 2025 utilized NHPs to create an antigenic map of SARS-CoV-2 variants, analyzing neutralization profiles across 23 variants to visualize their antigenic relationships and immune escape potential. NHP-derived data closely aligned with human sera, suggesting that NHPs are potential surrogates for studying antigenic evolution and guiding vaccine strain selection in the absence of single-exposure human sera.