AI-generated vaccine needs no needle, completes Phase I of human trials at Cambridge

A few days ago, the University of Cambridge officially announced a new vaccine unlike any other launched worldwide so far. The medicine, named Universal Sarbeco Coronavirus vaccine, is the world's first vaccine designed entirely by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Recently, it completed the first phase of its human trials, and the university says it has the potential to protect people from future viral outbreaks. What other features make it unique?

Different from traditional vaccines
The vaccine aims to be a single medicine that works not just against all known human coronavirus variants, but against related bat viruses that could jump from animals to humans and cause future pandemics. Traditional vaccines train our immune system to recognise one specific virus. The problem is that viruses mutate. When they change enough, the vaccine stops working, which is why we need a new flu shot every year and why COVID vaccines have been updated repeatedly since 2021.

AI offers a solution
AI offers a way around this. By analysing genetic data from thousands of related viruses, it can identify the parts that stay the same across different strains and that are unlikely to change over time. Target those stable features, and you have a vaccine that should work against the whole family, not just the strain you started with.

This is exactly what the Cambridge team did. They used AI to scan viruses from the sarbecovirus family, which includes the viruses that cause both SARS and COVID, as well as a range of animal coronaviruses, looking for shared features that evolution has left largely untouched. Those features became the basis of the vaccine.

No needle required
The new vaccine doesn't require a needle and is delivered directly into skin cells using a microfluidic jet injector. The high-pressure stream of liquid makes the administration less painful.
Protection against future viruses
Broad-spectrum vaccines like this offer much wider protection than traditional vaccines; they could provide rapid immunity against new and emerging viral threats.

They could also transform our approach to more familiar diseases. Influenza is a prime target because it exists in many different strains and evolves so rapidly. Scientists have to predict which strains will dominate each flu season, and if they guess wrong, vaccine effectiveness can suffer.

The first human trial showed that this DNA vaccine was able to stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies that can recognise different types of sarbecoviruses. The technology was found to be safe and well-tolerated. Although the results in this study are encouraging, the immune responses following vaccination were modest. It was also uncertain how long the protection would last and whether further boosters would be required. Larger trials are also needed to determine whether the vaccine can prevent or reduce virus infections in the real world.
(With PTI inputs)