10025510Pan-coronavirus vaccineClosedSmall Business Research InitiativeInnovate UKCoronaviruses are a family of viruses that can infect mammals and birds. As has happened with SARS, MERS and Covid-19, viruses that infect animals can sometimes jump to infect humans and because humans have no protection against them, this can lead to epidemics or pandemics. In many low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) humans live in close proximity to animals and the infrastructure around animal health and meat trade may not be sufficient to guarantee that an infection from animals will not spread into humans. The risk of further epidemics or pandemics starting in LMICs is high and the world needs to prepare for that to mitigate the high mortality and the enormous burden to the global economy that diseases like Covid-19 cause. Covid-19 has drastically advanced the field of nucleic acid vaccines. It has taken decades to perfect the technology, devising methods to protect the nucleic acids and deliver them into the cells to allow synthesis of the protein encoded in the nucleic acid. This technology allows rapid vaccine design, targeting of specific cell types and extended protein production. ConserV specialises in antigen discovery and has identified immunoreactive protein regions, known as antigens, that are common to the coronavirus family of viruses. These antigens have been encoded in mRNA to design a vaccine that aims to protect against a wide range of coronaviruses. This project will address optimisation of the mRNA construct and formulation and dosage to maximise the immune response. The optimised vaccine will be tested for efficacy in a model of infection for MERS, which is a member of the coronavirus family that is in the priority list of viruses with epidemic/pandemic potential. ConserV will collaborate with Phion therapeutics, another UK company that has developed a novel method for nucleic acid delivery creating nanoparticles by interacting with RALA peptide. This technology allows intradermal delivery of nucleic acids offering immunological benefits and also removes the need for ultra-low temperature storage conditions. This makes the vaccine candidate suitable for a global roll-out.