Ott Lab News

This year’s might include XBB.1 and … perhaps no other strain.

This fall, millions of Americans might be lining up for yet another kind of COVID vaccine: their first-ever dose that lacks the strain that ignited the pandemic more than three and a half years ago. Unlike the current, bivalent vaccine, which guards against two variants at once, the next one could, like the first version of the shot, have only one main ingredient—the spike protein of the XBB.1 lineage of the Omicron variant, the globe’s current dominant clade.

That plan isn’t yet set. The FDA still has to convene a panel of experts, then is expected to make a final call on autumn’s recipe next month. But several experts told me they hope the agency follows the recent recommendation of a World Health Organization advisory group and focuses the next vaccine only on the strains now circulating.

InvisiShield Technologies Ltd., a pre-clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing intranasal preventives for major disease-causing respiratory viruses, today announced a collaboration with Gladstone Institutes to develop intranasal preventatives against airborne infection, including SARS-CoV-2, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Gladstone Institutes, a non-profit biomedical research organization that uses visionary science and technology to overcome disease, will leverage its expertise in immunology and virology to support the collaboration. Gladstone has made significant contributions to better understanding and developing new therapies for a range of viral diseases, including HIV/AIDS and COVID-19.

The collaboration aims to develop intranasal preventatives that can protect individuals from viral infections, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, as well as influenza and RSV. Intranasal preventatives have the potential to serve as an immediate line of defense against viral infections, irrespective of an individual’s vaccination or immune system status, by targeting the nose and upper respiratory tract where most infections originate.

When California shut down in March 2020 and many San Franciscans stayed at home, obsessively ordering hand sanitizer, a group of local scientists pivoted from the projects they were working on and poured all their energy into COVID-19. Jennifer Doudna, PhD, and Melanie Ott, MD, PhD, developed a new testing device, using the gene-editing tool CRISPR, that’s as accurate as a PCR test but can provide rapid results at home (it should hit the market next year). And Leor Weinberger, PhD, developed a nasal spray that people can use after they’ve been exposed to COVID, to disrupt the virus’s ability to spread in the body (clinical trials could begin next year).

Researchers at UC Berkeley, the Gladstone Institutes and the Innovative Genomics Institute discovered that the antibodies generated against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants are less effective against the omicron variant.

The omicron variant was first detected in South Africa in late 2021, according to Abdullah Syed, the first author and a postdoctoral fellow at campus professor Jennifer Doudna’s lab. Although COVID-19 has generated many variants since 2020, Syed said the omicron variant is “different” because it had the most mutations and spread more rapidly than other variants.

A while ago, some researchers had suggested that blocking a set of proteins, known as bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) proteins, might be a way to fight COVID-19. However, in a surprising study, scientists at Gladstone Institutes and UC San Francisco (UCSF) discovered that BET proteins are actually crucial for the body to fight infection. In fact, the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself blocks the proteins to try to gain an advantage and continue to spread.

Researchers in San Francisco discovered new characteristics of the highly transmissible omicron variant.

ABC7 News reporter Luz Pena went inside the Gladstone Institutes lab where scientists say their discovery is shedding light on why vaccinated and boosted are getting infected.

This past winter, the Omicron variant surged through the country, causing a wave of COVID-19 cases. Now, several months later, those affected are left with a nagging question: how protected am I from future variants? This question is particularly germane as another variant, BA.2.12.1, is causing a recent spike in cases. Now, a team of researchers may have an answer.

COVID-19 infections continue to rise, driven by new and more infectious omicron subvariants, waning immunity from both vaccines and previous infections and fewer people masking up, health officials said at a White House briefing Wednesday.

About a third of Americans now live in an area with medium or high COVID-19 rates, with reported cases up 26% from last week, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control an Prevention.

As the Omicron wave subsided in the United States earlier this year, many experts anticipated a sort of reprieve. We certainly weren’t done with Covid, but perhaps we would get a well-deserved rest.

That break seems to be over.

An increase in infections that began in places including the Northeast and Puerto Rico is now being seen in other parts of the country. Cases will rise and fall going forward, but more worryingly, hospitalizations have started to increase as well — up 20% over two weeks. The decline in deaths has bottomed out at some 350 a day.

In clinical trials, multiple leading COVID-19 vaccines were tested as a two-shot regimen. In the real world, three doses have proven to offer strong protection against serious illness. And now, in multiple countries, fourth doses are being explored as a way to ward off waning immunity.

So does that mean you should rush out and get another shot if the opportunity arises? Not necessarily.

The human immune system is a broad, multi-faceted defence network. It starts off rather immature in your infancy, typically sharpens as you age, and tends to struggle more to fight off pathogens in your golden years.