tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
- nature communications
- articles
- article
- Article
- Open access
- Published: 05 February 2026
- Abigail E. Powell,
- Hannah Caruso,
- Soyoon Park,
- Jui-Lin Chen,
- Jessica O’Rear,
- Brian J. Ferrer,
- Daniel J. Stieh,
- Adam M. Weiss,
- David M. Belnap,
- Audrey Walker,
- Anneliese Bruening,
- Airn Hartwig,
- Kaitlin R. Sprouse,
- Amin Addetia,
- Abeer N. Alshukairi,
- Vida Ahyong,
- Cristy S. Dougherty,
- David Veesler,
- Richard Bowen,
- Julie E. Ledgerwood,
- Michael S. Kay,
- Payton A.-B. Weidenbacher &
- Brad A. Palanski
We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.
Abstract
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was identified as a human pathogen in 2012 and causes ongoing sporadic infections and outbreak clusters. Despite case fatality rates (CFRs) of over 30% and considerable pandemic potential, a safe and efficacious vaccine has not been developed. Here we report the design, characterization, and preclinical evaluation of MERS-CoV antigens. Our lead candidate comprises a stabilized spike displayed on a self-assembling ferritin nanoparticle that can be produced from a high-expressing, stable cell pool. This vaccine elicits robust MERS-CoV pseudovirus and authentic virus neutralizing antibody titers in BALB/c mice. Immunization of male non-human primates (NHPs) with one dose of Alhydrogel-adjuvanted vaccine elicited a > 10[SUP]3[/SUP] geometric mean titer of pseudovirus neutralizing antibodies that was boosted with a second dose. Sera from these NHPs exhibited cross-reactivity against spike-pseudotyped lentiviruses from MERS-CoV clades A, B, and C as well as a distant pangolin merbecovirus. In human DPP4 transgenic mice, immunization provided dose-dependent protection against MERS-CoV lethal challenge, and in an established alpaca challenge model using female alpacas, immunization fully protected against MERS-CoV infection. This MERS-CoV nanoparticle vaccine is a promising candidate for clinical advancement to protect at-risk individuals and for future use in a potential outbreak setting.