A look at modern 21st century forces – war, political collapse, climate change, urbanization, anti-science, leading to a return of neglected and vaccine-preventable diseases. My lecture will address my time as US Science Envoy in the White House and US State Department.

Learn about our new VaxArray Coronavirus Kits that provide quantitative analysis in 30 minutes of hands on time. It helps you get quantitative data from <10uL of serum for 9 different multiplexed pandemic and endemic coronavirus proteins. Provided in a streamlined format without customization or reagent preparation.

The VIC team is working with its academic collaborators and Voltron Therapeutics to develop a new vaccine for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The vaccine has two components that can be manufactured rapidly: the core protein activates the immune system, is stable and can be stockpiled; antigen-targeting peptides unique to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that can be rapidly generated and direct the anti-viral immune response. This vaccine has entered into preclinical trials.

Rapid development and deployment of an effective COVID-19 vaccine is critical to limit the devastating consequences of infection by this emerging pathogen, and several vaccine strategies are currently being developed.  The skin is a rational target for vaccine delivery. It contains a rich population of antigen presenting and immune accessory cells capable of inducing a proinflammatory microenvironment favoring the induction of potent and durable adaptive immunity. Here we summarize potential advantages of skin-targeted immunization and our efforts to develop a skin-targeted subunit protein vaccine using a dissolvable microneedle array delivery platform.

We have investigated the immunogenicity and ability to induce protective immune responses of several SARS-CoV-2 spike constructs, either as recombinant proteins in combination with adjuvants or expressed from a Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) vector. Mutations associated with increasing spike stability are also associated with increased immunogenicity in mice. Moreover, NDV viruses expressing a stabilized spike protein that gets incorporated into the NDV viral envelope induce robust protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2.

A global unmet need exists for affordable, safe and effective recombinant antigen viral vaccines or therapeutic monoclonal antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 and variants causing COVID-19 disease. Plans are presented using genetically engineered thermophilic filamentous fungus C1-cells for protective Antigen Vaccine and Monoclonal Antibody production in greater amounts and in shorter times, outperforming mammalian-, insect- or yeast-cell commercial product production.

Remdesivir is a prodrug of adenosine nucleotide analog with a broad-spectrum antiviral activity against multiple RNA viruses including coronaviruses. It is also active against SARS-CoV-2 both in vitro and in animal models. In several randomized clinical trials, remdesivir has demonstrated efficacy in hospitalized COVID-19 patients by significantly reducing disease progression and accelerating time to recovery. In October 2020, remdesivir was approved by FDA as the first treatment for COVID-19.

We have established a supercomputer-driven pipeline for in silico drug discovery for Covid-19 and beyond. Using the Summit supercomputer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, more than 1 ms of enhanced sampling MD simulation can be generated per day and it is possible to perform exhaustive docking of one billion compounds in under 24 hours. A number of screened compounds have been experimentally validated in assays and live viral tests.

This talk will discuss the rationale and design of the I-SPY COVID Platform Trial, a trial designed to rapidly evaluate phase 2 therapeutics for severe COVID-19.

Neutralizing antibodies appear to be the principal mechanism of immunity to resistance to SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease. We will discuss the genetic, molecular and structural basis of human monoclonal antibody-mediated neutralization of the virus.

Bamlanivimab (also known as LY3819253 or LY-CoV555) and etesevimab (also known as LY3832479 or LY-CoV016), are potent anti-spike neutralizing monoclonal antibodies derived from two separate convalescent COVID-19 patients. Results will be presented from the BLAZE-1 clinical trial, which have served as the basis for the emergency authorization for bamlanivimab in the United States for treatment of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 at high risk of progression to severe disease.

The ongoing coronavirus outbreak has taken hundreds of thousands of lives, and the number of infections is growing daily. In this presentation we will discuss the utility of single cell technologies to advance infectious disease research, with a focus on experimental workflows that accelerate antibody discovery and validation.

In three weeks, AbCellera discovered, characterized and selected hundreds of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 from one of the first U.S. patients to recover from COVID-19. AbCellera’s technology stack combines AI-assisted high-throughput single B cell screening with immune repertoire profiling of natural immune responses. Bioinformatic analysis of the resulting panels of antibodies allowed for the rapid characterization of neutralizing antibodies and the identification of therapeutic lead candidates including bamlanivimab.

Using a Systems Biology approach, we are integrating genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, environmental and molecular structure information to provide a holistic understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic. A range of methods are being used in a supercomputing environment in order to better understand the pathogenesis of COVID-19. This comprehensive analysis reveals that a Bradykinin Storm is an underlying mechanism for much of the symptomatology observed in COVID-19 patients.