NDV-HXP-S (known as ButanVac or ADAPTCOV in Brazil, COVIVAC in Vietnam, HXP-GPOVac in Thailand, Patria in Mexico) is a

COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an e ...

candidate developed under the leadership of Peter Palese, Adolfo García-Sastre, and Florian Krammer at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The name NDV-HXP-S comes from the terms ''Newcastle disease virus'', ''HexaPro'', and ''spike'' protein. The stabilization of the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 (''HexaPro'') was achieved by Jason McLellan from the University of Texas at Austin.

Pharmacology

NDV-HXP-S uses the

Newcastle disease virus Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

as its

viral vector Viral vectors are tools commonly used by molecular biologists to deliver genetic material into cells. This process can be performed inside a living organism (''in vivo'') or in cell culture (''in vitro''). Viruses have evolved specialized molecul ...

. The platform can be live or inactivated.

Manufacturing

Unlike vaccines such as Moderna's mRNA-1273, the Janssen vaccine, and Pfizer–BioNTech's Tozinameran, which all require both specialized manufacturing facilities and also rare or expensive ingredients, NDV-HXP-S can be produced using chicken eggs in a fashion similar to influenza vaccine production, making it especially important to and for middle- and low-income countries. Those existing vaccines are based on the 2P spike, while NDV-HXP-S is further refined via the same process, resulting in a new spike called HexaPro; the 2P spike contained two

proline Proline (symbol Pro or P) is an organic acid classed as a proteinogenic amino acid (used in the biosynthesis of proteins), although it does not contain the amino group but is rather a secondary amine. The secondary amine nitrogen is in the prot ...

s compared with HexaPro's six. It is also more resistant to heat and chemicals than the original 2P spike; the vaccine can be stored at 2–8°C.

History

Development

Its development was coordinated by the PATH Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access, and UT Austin and ISMMS have arranged royalty-free licensing agreements with labs and corporations in 80 countries. McLellan has noted that "the share of vaccines low- and middle-income countries' havereceived so far is terrible".

Clinical trials

As of December 2021, NDV-HXP-S is undergoing clinical trials in humans in at least four countries. In Brazil, on March 26, 2021, the

Butantan Institute Instituto Butantan (in modern Portuguese, Instituto Butantã, ) is a Brazilian biologic research center located in Butantã, in the western part of the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Instituto Butantan is a public institution affiliated with the S� ...

announced it would seek to begin clinical trials. Mexico-based Avimex plans to create an intranasal spray version of the vaccine. In Thailand the Government Pharmaceutical Organization is conducting a trial in coordination with

Mahidol University Mahidol University (Mahidol), an autonomous research institution in Thailand, had its origin in the establishment of Siriraj Hospital in 1888. Mahidol had an acceptance rate for Medicine of 0.4% as of the 2016 academic year. Becoming the Univers ...

. Reflecting the freedom offered by the ease of the manufacturing process, Thai health minister Anutin Charnvirakul referred to the vaccine as "produced by Thai people for Thai people". A phase II study has been completed in Vietnam, but the phase III study has been discontinued due to shortage of unvaccinated volunteers.

References

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