A trial comparing the self-replicating mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, developed by U.S. biotech Arcturus Therapeutics in collaboration with CSL, with BioNTech/Pfizer’s Comirnaty vaccine shows it is able to elicit better immune responses 12 months after vaccination than the approved mRNA vaccine.
The self-amplifying technology developed by Arcturus allows quick and long-lasting antigen expression in target cells in the body, which is designed to produce a stronger immune response to potential pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2.
Arcturus has developed three different COVID-19 vaccines and has two flu vaccines in development and also has a non-infectious disease arm focusing on developing mRNA treatments for ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency and cystic fibrosis.
One COVID-19 vaccine, ARCT-154, has already been approved in Japan and is seeking approval in Europe. The current study, presented at the OPTIONS XII for the Control of Influenza conference, looked at 12-month follow up data from a Phase III trial carried out in Japan that tested the efficacy of a booster vaccination with ARCT-154 with Comirnaty 12 months after vaccination.
The trial included 930 men and women who had already received at least three previous doses of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccination who were then randomly assigned to receive a booster vaccination with either the Arcturus vaccine or Comirnaty.
Those who received ARCT-154 had significantly more neutralizing antibodies against various strains of SARS-CoV-2 at 12 months than those receiving Comirnaty.
“The 12-month results from the ARCT-154 study continue to establish the durability of immune response from this self-amplifying mRNA vaccine and reinforce the ability of this vaccine to provide protection against COVID-19 at lower doses compared to conventional mRNA vaccines,” said Jonathan Edelman, MD, senior vice president, Vaccines Innovation Unit, at CSL, in a press statement.
Arcturus and CSL are also developing a bivalent version of their vaccine ARCT-2301, to help target newer strains of the virus. In a recent statement, the companies said that their research shows ARCT-2301 has better immunogenicity than the bivalent version of Comirnaty.
“The recent surge in COVID-19 infections and the emerging new variants illustrate the critical need for vaccines that provide a longer duration of protection compared to conventional mRNA vaccines,” said Igor Smolenov, chief development officer of Arcturus Therapeutics.
“These compelling new studies reaffirm that these self-amplifying-mRNA vaccines have the potential to offer potent protection against COVID-19.”
