Cornell researchers have developed a stable, multi-target vaccine offering long-lasting protection against COVID-19 and influenza, with promising results in mice.

Cornell University researchers have developed a new vaccine platform designed to offer stronger, longer-lasting protection against both COVID-19 and influenza while providing broader immunity against various flu strains.

A study published in Science Advances found that vaccinated mice showed no visible signs of illness and exhibited no cellular damage in their tissues.

“One of the big moments was when we started achieving 100% survival and lack of clinical disease in all of the vaccinated mice following challenge with either SARS-CoV-2 or influenza virus,” said Richard Adeleke, first author and doctoral candidate in the field of immunology and infectious diseases.

While current vaccines for SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, and influenza are both safe and variably effective, there remains room for improvement. COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are highly temperature-sensitive, posing challenges for distribution and administration in regions without reliable cold-chain infrastructure. Meanwhile, current influenza vaccines, with efficacy often below 50%, struggle to protect against the numerous strains of the virus. Both vaccines also offer relatively short-lived immunity, necessitating annual – or even more frequent – booster doses, making it harder to administer.

Addressing Vaccine Shortcomings

The new vaccine addresses these shortcomings.

“This is an exciting new modular technology that can accommodate glycoprotein antigens from many different viruses in a thermostable vaccine, making it possible to have dual, triple, or more viral targets in the same vaccine,” said senior author Hector Aguilar-Carreno, professor of virology. “Having multiple viral targets in the same vaccine makes the vaccine manufacturing process easier and cheaper.”

In addition to prompting complete immunity, researchers found that the neutralizing antibodies persisted in the mouse models eight months after vaccination. When a different influenza strain was introduced, the vaccine protected against that strain as well – a breakthrough that could vastly improve the standard flu vaccine’s efficacy.

A Step Toward a Universal Flu Vaccine

“Even achieving efficacy consistently above 50% is a huge step,” said David Buchholz, corresponding author and postdoctoral researcher. “When we found protection with this vaccine from a different strain – it may not sound like much, but that’s really the start of the holy grail pursuit when it comes to influenza vaccines.”

In addition to being more stable, the new vaccine might not be needed every year, which could increase vaccine participation, reduce the burden on health systems, make vaccination less expensive and more accessible, and ultimately save lives.

“People might only need the vaccine every five years, or depending on how the next trials go, maybe it will provide lifelong immune protection,” Adeleke said. “We’re now trying to push this in the public health direction – it takes a lot of time and money, but we’re pursuing that as hard as we can.”

Reference: “Replication-incompetent VSV-based vaccine elicits protective responses against SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus” by Richard A. Adeleke, Julie Sahler, Annette Choi, Kyle Roth, Viraj Upadhye, Shahrzad Ezzatpour, Brian Imbiakha, Solomiia Khomandiak, Annika Diaz, Gary R. Whittaker, Mason C. Jager, Avery August, David W. Buchholz and Hector C. Aguilar, 29 January 2025, Science Advances.
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adq4545

The research was supported with funding from the National Institutes of Health, a Cornell Seed Grant for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development, the Cornell University Ignite Program, and the 3M Company.