# Broad neutralization of pandemic threat coronaviruses

> **NIH NIH P01** · ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $6,423,268

## Abstract

ABSTRACT-OVERALL
 The recurrent emergence of coronaviruses from animal reservoirs, and the resulting COVID19 pandemic,
necessitates the development of interventions that can target diverse pandemic-threat coronaviruses.
Vaccines are among the most powerful means for mitigating viral epidemics but require significant breadth to
maximize the probability of effectiveness against unknown viral threats. Currently, first generation vaccines are
being deployed to combat SARS-CoV-2, but their effectiveness against emergent SARS-CoV-2 variants and,
importantly, against other potential zoonotic coronaviruses is unknown. This program will focus on neutralizing
antibodies as a demonstrated and key component of protective immune responses. The Program will improve
preparedness against coronaviruses, employing a progressive multistep approach to increase the breadth of
vaccine protection. A key component of the research will be to comprehend how neutralizing antibody
responses, elicited in humans following natural infection or vaccination, target the SARS-CoV-2 envelope
spike and how antibody evolution leads to increased potency and breadth. The identification and
characterization of epitopes targeted by SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies, using multiple approaches, will
guide the design of immunogens that aim to elicit neutralizing antibodies targeting as diverse a spectrum of
coronaviruses as possible. Several immunogens and delivery strategies will be tested in mice and hamsters
that will be challenged with authentic SARS-CoV-2 or a panoply of newly developed challenge models
incorporating divergent coronavirus spike proteins. Antibodies elicited in these animals will be analyzed and
compared with those found in SARS-CoV-2 immunized humans and immunogens progressively refined and
down-selected with the goal of performing vaccine-challenge experiments in nonhuman primates with the most
promising candidates. The expertise of each participating team is highly complementary and the program will
capitalize and build on the already existing scientific synergy to ensure the efficient and timely completion of
the goals.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10327989
- **Project number:** 1P01AI165075-01
- **Recipient organization:** ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Paul D. Bieniasz
- **Activity code:** P01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $6,423,268
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-01-03 → 2025-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10327989

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10327989, Broad neutralization of pandemic threat coronaviruses (1P01AI165075-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10327989. Licensed CC0.

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