10086291UNICOR-v, a pancoronavirus vaccineClosedSmall Business Research InitiativeInnovate UKCoronaviruses are a family of viruses that can infect mammals and birds. As exemplified with SARS, MERS and COVID-19, viruses that infect animals can sometimes infect humans and because we have no preexisting exposure to them, this can lead to epidemics or pandemics. In many low- and-middle-income countries (LMICs) humans live near 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 such likelihoods to mitigate the high mortality and the enormous burden to the global economy that such epidemics cause. ConserV specialises in antigen discovery and has identified immunoreactive protein regions, known as antigens, which are common to the coronavirus family of viruses and aiming to protect against a wide range of coronaviruses. Previous research demonstrated that the antigens delivered as synthetic peptides induce robust cellular and antibody responses. Efficacy was tested in a rabbit model of MERS, but viral replication and symptomatology were almost undetectable even in the unvaccinated group and therefore efficacy could not be determined. Also, the same antigens in the synthetic peptides were encoded in mRNA and encapsulated in nanoparticles for immunogenicity evaluation in mice, however, the immune responses on the synthetic peptides were superior to that of mRNA. This project will evaluate of the peptide formulation in suitable animal models developed at the University of Maryland. MERS-CoV does not readily infect mice and causes very mild infection in rabbits. By using mice that have incorporated the human receptor for MERS-CoV Spike protein, a clinically symptomatic infection can be developed in mice. We will evaluate efficacy against MERS-CoV but also against SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2, so that the vaccine's breadth of protection can be demonstrated against a range of coronaviruses. We will also improve the mRNA construct aiming to achieve comparable immune responses to those induced by the peptide vaccine_. In silico_ approaches will be used to optimise the mRNA construct design which will be tested for translation _in vitro_ before evaluating immunogenicity. Large pharma companies are migrating towards mRNA vaccines due to the small footprint required for its manufacturing and ease of scalability. This technology also allows for combination of vaccines against different diseases in the same formulation decreasing the number of visits to the health practitioner.