Further developed COVID vaccine from MedUni Vienna shows promising results against Omikron

Researchers at the Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology at the Medical University of Vienna have further developed their Covid-19 vaccine, which has now shown promise in the fight against the Omikron variant of the virus. The results of their work were recently published in the top journal "Vaccines". COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has now spread worldwide. The Omicron variant and its subtypes dominate since November 2021. To prevent severe courses of the disease, vaccines are needed that induce antibodies that are effective against Omicron. The MedUni Vienna team led by Rudolf Valenta and Pia Gattinger has improved the COVID-19 vaccine developed at MedUni Vienna, which consists of the PreS protein of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and two RBD proteins of SARS-CoV-2, so that it is highly effective against Omicron. Different vaccine variants were developed, produced and compared in their study.