Korea develops oral bacteria-based vaccine mechanism vs Covid-19

Research of oral Covid-19 vaccine based on gut-microbiome science

Korea University’s Allergy Immunology Center on Thursday said its research team has successfully developed an oral bacteria-based vaccine technology which can be safely used as a platform for an orally-administered vaccine as an alternative to current intramuscular jabs against coronavirus strains and new infectious diseases in the future.

For the vaccine, a well-known salmonella strain was used as a vaccine delivery candidate. Recombinant salmonella cells expressing engineered viral proteins related with Covid-19 pathogenesis were engineered, and the formulation of the oral vaccine candidate strain was evaluated in mice. The vaccine promoted antigen-specific antibody production, and cellular and humoral immunity was induced with no significant toxicity effects, according to the research.

Graphical abstract to show the mechanism of orally-administered Covid-19 vaccine

The platform technology studied jointly with Dr. Bang Iel-soo, a professor of Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Chosun University School of Dentistry, was developed by Yoon Won-suck, a professor of Allergy Immunology Center, Korea University, as part of establishing a preemptive measure in response to the emergence of harmful microorganisms in the future by examining the distribution of microorganisms in multi-use facilities across the country.

This study is significant in that it has developed a microbial fusion technology for various harmful microorganisms that may appear after the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Yoon said, hoping that the technology will be utilized as a next-generation vaccine platform applicable to various diseases in the future.

The research findings were published in VACCINES on January 1, 2022 under the title of ‘Development of an Oral Salmonella-Based Vaccine Platform against SARS-CoV-2'. The technology was also filed for patent protection in Korea.

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