CVR - Coronavirus Vaccines R&D Roadmap

Milestone
2.6.e

T-cell assays

In progress

Determine whether assays or surrogate markers for T cell responses could serve as CoPs for coronavirus vaccines.

Progress Highlights

Higher levels of antigen-specific IFNγ-secreting CD4+ T cells are associated with stronger vaccine response.

Eser 2023 found that nucleocapsid-specific CD4 and CD8 T cells may serve as CoPs.

Heitmann 2021 demonstrated  IFNγ T-cell response in all vaccine recipients in a Phase 1 clinical trial of the broadly protective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine CoVac-1, with a ≥100-fold increase from baseline. Authors of the study further demonstrated that the IFNγ T-cell response to specific SARS-CoV-2 variants was greater than wild type SARS-CoV-2; CoVac-induced CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses were also shown.