Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.1.7 pseudovirus by BNT162b2 vaccine-elicited human sera
Open accessPreprint — published as 10.1126/science.abg6105 · Paper page
Abstract
Recently, a new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) lineage called B.1.1.7 (variant of concern: VOC 202012/01), which is reported to spread more efficiently and faster than other strains, emerged in the United Kingdom. This variant has an unusually large number of mutations, with 10 amino acid changes in the spike (S) protein, raising concerns that its recognition by neutralizing antibodies may be affected. In this study, we tested SARS-CoV-2-S pseudoviruses bearing either the Wuhan reference strain or the B.1.1.7 lineage spike protein with sera of 40 participants who were vaccinated in a previously reported trial with the messenger RNA-based COVID-19 vaccine BNT162b2. The immune sera had slightly reduced but overall largely preserved neutralizing titers against the B.1.1.7 lineage pseudovirus. These data indicate that the B.1.1.7 lineage will not escape BNT162b2-mediated protection.
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Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 mRNA recipients showed no change in neutralising activity using pseudovirus assays comparing a vesicular stomatitis virus expressing B.1.1.7 or ancestral Wuhan lineage spike protein.
“Vaccine sera from the Pfizer–BioNTech BNT162b2 mRNA recipients showed no change in neutralising activity using pseudovirus assays comparing a vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) expressing B.1.1.7 or ancestral Wuhan lineage spike protein.26”
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References 12 · Cited by 515
- Authors
- Muik, A., Wallisch, A.-K., Sänger, B., Swanson, K. A., Mühl, J., Chen, W., Cai, H., Sarkar, R., Türeci, Ö., Dormitzer, P. R., & Sahin, U.
- Affiliations
- BioNTech (Germany) (DE)
- Pfizer (United States) (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Science
- Publisher
- openRxiv
- Published
- 2021-01-19
- Volume
- 371
- Issue
- 6534
- Pages
- 1152-1153
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7971771
- OpenAlex
- W3123108673
- Cited by
- 515
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 152 · 2021: 298 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 39.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Pfizer
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Animal Virus Infections Studies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › vaccines and immunoinformatics approaches
- Keywords
- SARS-CoV-2, B.1.1.7 lineage, BNT162b2, mRNA vaccines, neutralizing antibodies, spike protein mutations, vaccine escape, pseudovirus neutralization
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 Vaccines, BNT162 Vaccine, Adult, Aged, Antibodies, Viral, China, Female, United Kingdom, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neutralization Tests, Young Adult, Antibodies, Neutralizing, Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
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