- Researchers have tested a vaccine designed to protect against a range of coronaviruses.
- This new vaccine was the first designed by AI to be tested on humans.
- The pEVAC-PS vaccine could enable protection against future mutations.
- The use of AI also enables the development of new vaccines much faster.
- However, more research is needed to determine whether it works in a more diverse population.
According to an article found in the June 2026 issue of the Journal of Infection, researchers have safely tested a new vaccine designed to protect against a wide range of coronaviruses related to SARS and COVID-19.
As a press release from the University of Cambridge explains, this trial is the first time that a vaccine whose active component was designed entirely by computer simulations has been tested in humans.
This vaccine, developed by a team of scientists from the University of Southampton, the University of Cambridge, and DIOSynVax Ltd., is called pEVAC-PS.
The technology uses a “super-antigen” designed by artificial intelligence (AI) to create protection against a wide range of viruses, even when mutations occur.
Current methods for developing vaccines lack this ability, making frequent reformulations necessary to keep up with ever-changing viruses.
While the vaccine was found to be safe and without significant side effects, the authors say a larger trial is needed to determine whether it can provide strong protection in a more diverse population.
In the study, it was given to healthy volunteers in the U.K. between December 2021 and September 2023.
The goal was to create a vaccine that could defend not only against current COVID-19 variants but also against future coronavirus threats that might potentially jump from animals to humans.
The authors say that the vaccine uses a needle-free DNA delivery system, making it easier to administer and store, especially in places with limited medical resources.
This phase I clinical trial involved 39 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 50 who had already received 2 or 3 doses of COVID-19 vaccines but had not recently contracted the virus.
Participants were divided into four groups, each receiving different doses of the pEVAC-PS vaccine: 0.2 milligrams (mg), 0.4 mg, 0.8 mg, and 1.2 mg.
The vaccine was administered twice: the first dose on day 0 and the second on day 28.
Unlike traditional vaccines that use needles, pEVAC-PS was delivered intradermally (just under the skin) using a device called the PharmaJet Tropis, which delivers the vaccine without needles.
This needle-free method reduces the need for specialized medical equipment and lowers the risk of needle-related injuries or infections.
Volunteers were then carefully monitored for side effects and immune responses. They recorded any local reactions like redness or pain at the injection site, as well as systemic symptoms such as fever or fatigue, for seven days after each vaccination.
Blood samples were collected at several points before and after vaccination to measure immune responses, including antibodies that target the spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, and the vaccine construct itself.
The pEVAC-PS vaccine was well tolerated by all participants, with no serious adverse events reported. Most side effects were mild or moderate and included expected reactions such as soreness at the injection site or mild fatigue.
Additionally, no increase in side effects was observed with higher doses, and fewer side effects occurred after the second dose compared to the first. A small number of participants experienced mild COVID-19 infections during the trial, unrelated to the vaccine and requiring no medical attention.
Regarding immune responses, the results were modest. The vaccine did not significantly boost antibody levels beyond those already present from prior COVID-19 vaccinations or infections.
This was partly due to participants having varied histories of COVID-19 exposure and different vaccination schedules, according to the researchers, which made it difficult to measure the vaccine’s direct effects.
That said, the highest dose group (1.2 mg) did show a small but statistically significant increase in antibodies targeting the vaccine’s designed spike protein region around six weeks after the first dose.
Neutralizing antibodies, which can block viral infection of cells, were measured in the middle and highest dose groups. Some increases in neutralizing activity were seen against certain SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Delta and Omicron BA.1, but not against the original Wuhan strain or SARS-CoV-1.
The authors say this suggests that while the vaccine may help improve protection against some variants, its overall ability to neutralize a broad range of viruses remains limited at these doses.
Further analysis using a detailed peptide microarray revealed that antibodies from vaccinated individuals recognized specific conserved regions of the spike protein’s receptor-binding domain. These regions include the site targeted by the well-known, broadly neutralizing antibody S309.
Although the binding to these conserved areas did not translate into strong neutralizing activity, it indicates the vaccine can stimulate immune recognition of important viral structures shared across multiple coronaviruses.
Overall, the trial demonstrated that pEVAC-PS is safe and feasible to deliver without needles, and it supports the design of vaccines targeting multiple related coronaviruses.
However, additional work is needed to improve the vaccine’s ability to provide stronger, broader immune protection.
Nora Khaldi, PhD, the founder and CEO of Nuritas, a Dublin-based AI biotech company, explained that AI can solve “a needle-in-a-haystack problem” that humans can’t solve on their own.
“The number of possible molecular combinations — even within a single protein — is astronomically large,” she said. “You could spend a hundred years testing candidates one by one in a lab and barely make a dent.”
However, AI can analyze vast amounts of biological data and identify patterns that humans can’t at the same scale or speed.
“In the case of a broad-spectrum vaccine, the question was: what part of these viruses does the immune system need to recognize, across all variants, across species that haven’t even infected humans yet?”
Michael O. McKinney, MD, a physician and medical advisor at Pure Frequencies in Jacksonville, Florida, added that AI will reshape vaccine development in two fundamental ways.
First, it will collapse development timelines. “For both traditional vaccines and innovative drugs, the period from conceptualization to human trials takes more than 10 years, a universal baseline recognized across the global pharmaceutical industry,” he said.
However, this study confirms that AI can dramatically shorten this, according to McKinney.
It will also be able to target “hyper-mutating pathogens,” he said.
According to McKinney, the authors’ approach is a reusable blueprint that can be adapted to other mutable pathogens.
This could advance the research and development of universal influenza vaccines, new HIV response pathways, and even anticipate future biosafety threats, he said.
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