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Regarding Wednesday’s preliminary results, add growing evidence that a coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa escapes the neutralizing power by antibodies in convalescent plasma.
The results were published ahead of peer review on the bioRxiv website by several universities in South Africa and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the National Health Laboratory Service.
The 501Y.V2 variant involves nine mutations on the virus spike protein, which the virus uses to infect cells. This worries scientists, as newly developed vaccines and therapies target proteins, raising concerns that changes could impact the effectiveness of treatments and vaccines. Scientists believe that the recently approved vaccines remain effective against the British variant, although research on the variant first identified in South Africa is ongoing.
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Earlier this week, researchers said the South African strain was 50% more infectious and had been detected in more than 20 countries since the end of December, according to the World Health Organization, Reuters reported. No cases of the strain have been reported in the United States, although this is potentially due to under-surveillance.
Convalescent plasma containing antibodies from recovered coronavirus patients is infused into sick patients to fight infection, and the treatment already has emergency clearance in the United States although it may offer benefits to those who fight the virus, the evidence has not been conclusive as to how it works or how it works. better to administer it.
In preliminary results released on Wednesday, researchers said the mutated strain almost avoided, if not avoided, the protection offered by plasma treatment.
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“This line exhibits a complete escape from three classes of therapeutically relevant monoclonal antibodies,” the results read. “Furthermore, 501Y.V2 shows substantial or complete escape of neutralizing antibodies in convalescent COVID-19 plasma.”
The researchers said the data underscores the risk of re-infection, “and may herald reduced efficacy of current pimple-based vaccines.” The team tested convalescent plasma from coronavirus patients against the 501Y.V2 strain, and 48% of 44 samples “had no detectable neutralizing activity,” the study authors wrote.
“These data also have implications for the efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, which are primarily based on immune responses to the spike protein,” the paper reads, urging “urgent attention”. rapidly adaptable vaccine design platforms; and the need to identify fewer mutable viral targets for incorporation into future immunogens. “
Separate research on Tuesday also suggested that mRNA vaccines (like those developed by Pfizer and Moderna) may need updates to maintain their effectiveness against new strains.
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Pfizer previously told Fox News that the company, along with BioNTech, selected an mRNA platform for its now licensed vaccine due to the flexibility the technology offers. “This flexibility includes the ability to modify the RNA sequence in the vaccine to cover new strains of the virus, if ever an emergence was not well covered by the current vaccine,” read an emailed statement. .
In the results released Tuesday, a team including scientists at Rockefeller University took blood samples from 20 volunteers who had received the vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna, and tested their antibodies against various viral mutations in the laboratory.
With some, the antibodies did not work as well against the virus – the activity was one to three times less, depending on the mutation, said study leader Dr Michel Nussenzweig of Rockefeller.
“It’s a little difference but it’s definitely a difference,” he said. The antibody response is “not as good” at blocking the virus.
“We don’t want people to think that the current vaccine is already outdated. That is absolutely not true,” E. John Wherry, an immunology expert at the University of Pennsylvania, told The Associated Press. “There is still immunity here … a good level of protection”, but the mutations “actually reduce the ability of our immune response to recognize the virus.”
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Meanwhile, Pfizer and BioNTech have published a new study that provides more evidence that their COVID-19 vaccine is effective against the UK variant that is believed to be more contagious.
The study, which was posted on the bioRxiv preprint server and has not yet been peer reviewed, analyzed blood samples from eight people aged 18 to 55 and eight people aged 56 to 85.
The researchers found that the Pfizer vaccine provided “no biologically significant difference in neutralizing activity against” the original COVID-19 strain and the British variant.
While this is good news, the researchers wrote: “The continued evolution of SARS-CoV-2 requires continued monitoring of the significance of the changes to maintain protection by currently licensed vaccines.”
Fox News has requested Pfizer’s comment on the findings of the Rockefeller researchers.
The Associated Press and Paul Best of Fox News contributed to this report.
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