A vaccine designed by artificial intelligence has been tested in humans for the first time, raising hopes that future pandemic responses could become faster and less dependent on chasing new variants. The vaccine was developed by researchers at the universities of Cambridge and Southampton and, unlike traditional vaccines that usually target a specific virus or strain, it is designed to protect against wider virus families, including coronaviruses and Ebola-related viruses.
The idea is to prepare the immune system for shared features found across related viruses, including those that may mutate or have not yet emerged in humans. Professor Saul Faust, from the University of Southampton and chief investigator of the trial, said the current vaccine system often struggles to keep up with rapidly changing viruses such as influenza, coronaviruses and Ebola-related pathogens. By the time a vaccine is developed and rolled out, he said, the virus may already have evolved, making protection less precise.
The new vaccine uses an AI-designed component described by the research team as a “super-antigen”. It is a computer-designed protein that reflects common features found across multiple coronaviruses, rather than focusing on one specific strain. Researchers created it using genetic sequence data from sarbecoviruses, a group of coronaviruses that mainly circulate in bats but can sometimes jump to humans or other mammals. Machine learning was then used to identify common patterns and design the vaccine’s active ingredient.
Another difference is how the vaccine is given. It does not use a needle. Instead, it is delivered through a microfluidic jet, which pushes the vaccine into the skin through a fast stream of liquid. The team says this could make vaccination easier in countries where cold storage, needles and medical waste are major barriers. The vaccine is also expected to be more stable than some mRNA vaccines and would not require ultra-cold storage.
The first human trial included 39 volunteers who were vaccinated between December 2021 and September 2023. The study looked at safety, tolerability and immune response. According to the researchers, the vaccine was well tolerated across all four doses tested, with no significant safety concerns reported.
The next step will be a phase 2 clinical trial involving a larger and more diverse group of participants. Researchers will use that trial to test whether the vaccine can produce strong and broad immune protection. Professor Jonathan Heeney, from the University of Cambridge and scientific lead of the research, said the goal is to move beyond constantly updating vaccines after new variants appear. “We’ve converted vaccine development from being reactive to being future proof,” he said.
Source: Euronews
