More specifically, it encodes the full-length spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 with two amino acids mutated to proline in the S2 subunit to maintain the prefusion conformation, while its sister vaccine BNT162b1 (also from Pfizer/BioNTech) encodes only the RBD of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, trimerized by the addition of a T4 fibritin foldon domain. BNT162b2 encodes the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to elicit virus-neutralizing antibodies. This was welcome news in that it revealed that effective vaccines may soon become available. On 9 November 2020, Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their mRNA-based vaccine candidate, BNT162b2, is more than 90% effective against COVID-19.
The remarkably rapid development of vaccines and therapeutics for COVID-19 in 2020 has been due to effective collaborations between governments and the private sector. Development of Spike Protein-Based COVID-19 Vaccines The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is the major target for the development of COVID-19 vaccines.Ģ. This protein consists of two subunits: Subunit 1 (S1) that contains the ACE2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) and Subunit 2 (S2) that plays a role in the fusion process ( Figure 1). The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, a class I viral fusion protein, is critical to initiating the interactions between the virus and the host cell surface receptor, facilitating viral entry into the host cell by assisting in the fusion of the viral and host cell membranes. As COVID-19 continues to cause serious health, economic, and sociological problems, the world awaits the widespread rollout of effective vaccines that may end this pandemic.
Elderly patients with cardiovascular disease are particularly susceptible to developing serious COVID-19 conditions that in some cases lead to death, while young and healthy individuals are largely resistant to developing severe symptoms. SARS-CoV-2 uses its viral membrane fusion protein, known as a spike protein, to bind to angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as a ‘receptor’ in order to enter human host cells, causing severe pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
As of the end of December 2020, over 80 million people have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, causing 1.8 million deaths worldwide. The world is suffering from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus.
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