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Introduction: Several effective vaccines for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been developed and implemented in the population. However, the current production capacity falls short of meeting global demand. Therefore, it is crucial to further develop novel vaccine platforms that can bridge the distribution gap. AVX/COVID-12 is a vector-based vaccine that utilizes the Newcastle Disease virus (NDV) to present the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to the immune system., Methods: This study aims to analyze the antigenicity of the vaccine candidate by examining antibody binding and T-cell activation in individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 or variants of concern (VOCs), as well as in healthy volunteers who received coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccinations., Results: Our findings indicate that the vaccine effectively binds antibodies and activates T-cells in individuals who received 2 or 3 doses of BNT162b2 or AZ/ChAdOx-1-S vaccines. Furthermore, the stimulation of T-cells from patients and vaccine recipients with AVX/COVID-12 resulted in their proliferation and secretion of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) in both CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells., Discussion: The AVX/COVID-12 vectored vaccine candidate demonstrates the ability to stimulate robust cellular responses and is recognized by antibodies primed by the spike protein present in SARS-CoV-2 viruses that infected patients, as well as in the mRNA BNT162b2 and AZ/ChAdOx-1-S vaccines. These results support the inclusion of the AVX/COVID-12 vaccine as a booster in vaccination programs aimed at addressing COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 and its VOCs., Competing Interests: Author HC-C was employed by company Consultora Mextrategy. Authors GP-DR, OR-M, AS-M, GP-S, DS-M and BL-D were employed by company Laboratorio Avi-Mex S.A. de C.V. The vaccine candidate administered in this study was developed by faculty members at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai including PP, FK and AG-S. Mount Sinai is seeking to commercialize this vaccine; therefore, the institution and its faculty inventors could benefit financially. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has filed patent applications relating to SARS-849 CoV-2 serological assays USA Provisional Application Numbers: 62/994,252, 63/018,457, 63/020,503 and 63/024,436 and NDV-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccines USA Provisional Application Number: 63/251,020 which list FK as co-inventor. AG-S and PP are a co-inventor in the NDV-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine patent application. Patent applications were submitted by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai has spun out a company, Kantaro, to market serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 and another company, CastleVax, to commercialize SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. FK, PP and AG-S serve on the scientific advisory board of CastleVax and are listed as co-founders of the company. FK has consulted for Merck, Seqirus, Curevac, and Pfizer, and is currently consulting for Gritstone, Third Rock Ventures, GSK, and Avimex. The FK laboratory has been collaborating with Pfizer on animal models of SARS-CoV-2. The AG-S laboratory has received research support from GSK, Pfizer, Senhwa Biosciences, Kenall Manufacturing, Blade Therapeutics, Avimex, Johnson & Johnson, Dynavax, 7Hills Pharma, Pharmamar, ImmunityBio, Accurius, Nanocomposix, Hexamer, N-fold LLC, Model Medicines, Atea Pharma, Applied Biological Laboratories and Merck. AG-S has consulting agreements for the following companies involving cash and/or stock: Amovir, Vivaldi Biosciences, Contrafect, 7Hills Pharma, Avimex, Pagoda, Accurius, Esperovax, Farmak, Applied Biological Laboratories, Pharmamar, CureLab Oncology, CureLab Veterinary, Synairgen, Paratus, Pfizer and Prosetta. AG-S has been an invited speaker in meeting events organized by Seqirus, Janssen, Abbott, and AstraZeneca. PP has a consulting agreement with Avimex. The live vaccine used in the study was developed by members of Avimex. Avimex filed patent applications with Mount Sinai and CONAHCYT. DS-M, CL-M, HC-C, GP-D, and BL-D are named as inventors on at least one of those patent applications. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The authors declare that this study received funding from Laboratorio Avi-Mex S.A. de C.V., project number R-2021-785-048. The funder had the following involvement in the study: resources, writing – review and editing, conceptualization, supervision, and validation. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision., (Copyright © 2024 Torres-Flores, Ontiveros-Padilla, Madera-Sandoval, Tepale-Segura, Gajón-Martínez, Rivera-Hernández, Ferat-Osorio, Cérbulo-Vázquez, Arriaga-Pizano, Bonifaz, Paz-De la Rosa, Rojas-Martínez, Suárez-Martínez, Peralta-Sánchez, Sarfati-Mizrahi, Sun, Chagoya-Cortés, Palese, Krammer, García-Sastre, Lozano-Dubernard and López-Macías.)

Vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) were developed in record time and show excellent efficacy and effectiveness against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, currently approved vaccines cannot meet the global demand. In addition, none of the currently used vaccines is administered intranasally to potentially induce mucosal immunity. Here, we tested the safety and immunogenicity of a second-generation SARS-CoV-2 vaccine that includes a stabilized spike antigen and can be administered intranasally. The vaccine is based on a live Newcastle disease virus vector expressing a SARS-CoV-2 spike protein stabilized in a prefusion conformation with six beneficial proline substitutions (AVX/COVID-12-HEXAPRO; Patria). Immunogenicity testing in the pig model showed that both intranasal and intramuscular application of the vaccine as well as a combination of the two induced strong serum neutralizing antibody responses. Furthermore, substantial reactivity to B.1.1.7, B.1.351, and P.1 spike variants was detected. Finally, no adverse reactions were found in the experimental animals at any dose level or delivery route. These results indicate that the experimental vaccine AVX/COVID-12-HEXAPRO (Patria) is safe and highly immunogenic in the pig model. IMPORTANCE Several highly efficacious vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 have been developed and are used in the population. However, the current production capacity cannot meet the global demand. Therefore, additional vaccines-especially ones that can be produced locally and at low cost-are urgently needed. This work describes preclinical testing of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate which meets these criteria.