Identify effective interventions, and other measures to prevent transmission of sars-COV-2 at the human-animal interface and/or impacts on the food supply

The University of Wisconsin-Madison received a $2.26 million cooperative agreement award from the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care federal grant program (CFDA 10.025). The purpose of the August 2023 to August 2025 award is to develop pan-coronaviral vaccines that can be administered to domestic and wild animals via oral baits or nasal spray to limit transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses at the human-animal interface. Key deliverables include evaluating vaccine ability to protect animals against SARS-CoV-2, SARS, and MERS while limiting coronavirus transmission. Under a $50,000 subaward, Vaxthera LLC will characterize modified vaccinia Ankara virus-based vaccine formulations for mucosal delivery stability under various temperature conditions and bait configurations for potential wildlife vaccination strategies. If successful, the vaccines could help prevent future pandemics by breaking coronavirus transmission cycles.

The aim of the project is to develop pan-coronaviral vaccines and test them in hamsters, ferrets, and cats. The project will focus on evaluating the ability of these vaccines to protect domestic and wild animals against several coronaviral infections, including covid-19, severe acute respiratory syndrome (sars), and middle eastern respiratory syndrome (mers), as well as their ability to limit the transmission of coronaviruses. The project will also explore the formulation of vaccines that could be administered to a large number of animals via oral baits or nasal spray. The recipient must meet the objectives and deliverables stated in their work plan and must complete quarterly financial and performance reports and a final accomplishment report. If successful, the project could have significant implications for public health by breaking the transmission cycle of sars-COV-2 and other coronaviruses at the animal-human interface. By protecting domestic and wild animals, the vaccines could limit the emergence of new variants of the virus and ultimately help prevent future pandemics. The target audience for this project includes: pets and their owners, production animals, susceptible wildlife species that serve as reservoirs for sars-COV-2 and other beta-coronaviruses, and human communities. There is one subaward/contract for vaxthera LLC. Vaxthera will be responsible for objective 3 by providing and characterizing MVA-4 vaccines formulation that will be produced in a bioreactor and then clarified, purified, and concentrated on lab-scale conditions to prepare different types of formulations with salts, buffers, amino acids, and stabilizing excipients.