• Xiaoying Shen, Haili Tang, Charlene McDanal, Kshitij Wagh, William Fischer, James Theiler, Hyejin Yoon, Dapeng Li, Barton F Haynes, Kevin O Sanders, Sandrasegaram Gnanakaran, Nick Hengartner, Rolando Pajon, Gale Smith, Gregory M Glenn, Bette Korber, and David C Montefiori.
• Department of Surgery, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA; Duke Human Vaccine Institute, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.
• Cell Host Microbe. 2021 Apr 14; 29 (4): 529-539.e3.

AbstractAll current vaccines for COVID-19 utilize ancestral SARS-CoV-2 spike with the goal of generating protective neutralizing antibodies. The recent emergence and rapid spread of several SARS-CoV-2 variants carrying multiple spike mutations raise concerns about possible immune escape. One variant, first identified in the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7, also called 20I/501Y.V1), contains eight spike mutations with potential to impact antibody therapy, vaccine efficacy, and risk of reinfection. Here, we show that B.1.1.7 remains sensitive to neutralization, albeit at moderately reduced levels (∼sim;2-fold), by serum samples from convalescent individuals and recipients of an mRNA vaccine (mRNA-1273, Moderna) and a protein nanoparticle vaccine (NVX-CoV2373, Novavax). A subset of monoclonal antibodies to the receptor binding domain (RBD) of spike are less effective against the variant, while others are largely unaffected. These findings indicate that variant B.1.1.7 is unlikely to be a major concern for current vaccines or for an increased risk of reinfection.Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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