Initiation of a coronavirus vaccine library

Abstract

Coronaviruses (CoVs) continue to pose a global health threat as they spill over from animal hosts to humans. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is a global partnership focused on vaccine research and development. CEPI's CoV Vaccine Library initiative aims to generate knowledge and tools to accelerate vaccine development against emergent CoVs, prioritizing those with the highest assessed risk of spillover, vaccine feasibility, and phylogenetic coverage. Based on expert consultations and published data, we developed a prioritized list of 26 CoVs to serve as a foundation for building a knowledge base to support future vaccine efforts. As a first step, in silico designs will be used to develop stabilized spike antigens for select targets. These antigens will be tested for pre-clinical immunogenicity and breadth using different vaccine modalities. Assays, tools, and data generated will nucleate an open-access library and serve as a starting point for emergent CoV vaccine development.