Metavac-RSV mucosal bivalent vaccine candidate protects cotton rats against pneumoviruses and is produced using serum-free cell culture in bioreactor
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (HMPV) are the main etiologic agents of viral bronchiolitis and pneumonia in children and the elderly. As live-attenuated vaccines (LAV) can stimulate robust mucosal and cellular responses, we previously engineered an HMPV-based bivalent LAV Metavac®-RSV candidate and reported its capacity to protect mice against HMPV and RSV challenges after intranasal delivery. To progress towards clinical development, we identified a GMP-grade Vero cell platform as permissive and efficient to produce high yields of functional Metavac®-RSV, expressing both RSV and HMPV F antigen after several passages. Metavac®-RSV protected cotton rats against both HMPV and RSV challenges, significantly reducing viral replication in the respiratory airways and inducing high titers of neutralizing antibodies. Finally, we identified process parameters to scale-up the production process of Metavac®-RSV using Vero cells cultivated on microcarriers in a 2 L single-use stirred-tank bioreactor, with a scalable upstream production process amenable to industrial manufacturing.
Authors
- Guy Boivin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3027-4662)
- Caroline Chupin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3860-3475)
- Julia Dubois (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9777-2968)
- Julien Fouret (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2427-5207)
- Kevin C. Yim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0894-0999)
- M. C. Ray (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-9327-3494)
- Aurélien Traversier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1874-3075)
- Jorge C. G. Blanco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6173-0213)
- Stéphane Paul (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8830-4273)
- Manuel Rosa‐Calatrava (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7559-9527)
- Emilie Laurent
- MV Reitano
- Abdelghafar Goumaidi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2008-7006)
- Marie-Eve Hamelin
- Pauline Brun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0762-832X)
- Chloé Mialon
- Marina S. Boukhvalova
Institutions
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR)
- École Normale Supérieure de Lyon (FR)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Inserm (FR)
- Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec (CA)
- Centre hospitalier de l'Université Laval (CA)
- Sigmovir Biosystems (United States) (US)
- Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie (FR)
- Université Jean Monnet (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Vaccines
- Published
- 2025-08-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41541-025-01231-9
- Primary Topic
- Respiratory viral infections research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Université Laval
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale
- Association Nationale de la Recherche et de la Technologie
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1
- Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Medical Research Council
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases