Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine Elicits Antibodies Against UK Strain

Pfizer and BioNTech recently announced that its COVID-19 vaccine, BNT162b2, elicited antibodies that neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 UK strain, known as B.1.1.7 lineage. 

The in-vitro study investigated the capability of sera from individuals immunized with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, BNT162b2, to work against new mutant strains of the novel coronavirus. Researchers investigated the full set of UK spike mutations and found the pseudovirus featuring the UK strain spike protein. 

They found that in sera of participants from a German Phase 1/2 trial, neutralization range was biologically equivalent to the Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 spike, Pfizer explained.

The neutralization of the pseudovirus bearing the UK strain spike by BNT162b2 means that COVID-19 caused by the UK virus variant can also be prevented by immunization with BNT162b2. 

At the end of November, Pfizer and BioNTech concluded their US Phase 3 clinical trial after BNT162b2 elicited a 95 percent efficiency in participants without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection, as well as with and without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. Notably, there were no serious adverse events. 

The companies expect to produce up to1.3 billion doses of BNT162b2 by the end of 2021. 

B.1.1.7 lineage is a rapidly spreading variant of SARS-CoV-2 first detected in the UK that carries a larger than usual number of genetic changes. Specifically, there are 10 mutations on the spike protein.

The two earliest sampled genomes that belong to the B.1.1.7 lineage were collected in September in Kent, England and another from Greater London, a recent study found. Additionally, B.1.1.7 infections have continued to be detected in the UK through early December 2020. 

As of mid-December, there were 1,623 genomes in the B.1.1.7 lineage, and of these, 519 were sampled in Greater London, 555 in Kent, and 545 in other regions of the UK, researchers said.

A UK study claimed that B.1.1.7 lineage is 56 percent more contagious than the strain found in the states, The New York Times reported. Additionally, the variant may be up to 70 percent more transmissible. 

In a January study, researchers evaluated BNT162b2 against one of the primary mutations of the UK strain, N501Y, which was also found in the South African strain. The study found neutralization of the mutated spike in individuals who received BNT162b2. 

Although further data is needed to monitor the effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in preventing COVID-19 caused by new virus variants, the companies are hopeful that their vaccine will prove effective against the UK strain based on the January study. 

But if changes need to be made to the current vaccine, Pfizer stated that the flexibility of BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine platform is prepared for any adjustments. 

After Colorado and California discovered the UK variant in their states at the end of December, Anthony Fauci, MD, NIAID director, explained that he believes the US FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines will “very likely” work on UK mutation in the states. 

"It doesn't seem to evade the protection that's afforded by the antibodies that are induced by vaccines,” Fauci said in a Facebook Live video with California Governor Gavin Newsom at the end of December. "Even though you have one part of the virus that's changed, it's very likely that the other components of the vaccine-induced response will protect you. 

Although public health officials are keeping an eye on the mutation, Fauci explained that there is no evidence that it is any deadlier than the strain of the virus that has been dominate in theUS.

"The other thing they've noted in the UK is that people who have been infected don't seem to get re-infected by this," Fauci added. "The immunity that's given to you by recovering from the virus is protective against this particular strain."