Covid Vaccine Testing

<p style="text-align:left;">In this episode, Dr. Robert Bailer, Senior Director for Vaccines at Q2 Solutions, describes the processes for testing vaccines against the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. He covers both ELISA and virus neutralization assays.</p> <p style="text-align:left;">Q2 Solutions has developed an ELISA assay to evaluate multiple different antigens at the same time. Looking primarily at the spike protein, it is dissected into different parts: S1, S2, S1 plus S2, and  the receptor binding domain. The nucleocapsid protein is being evaluated as well.</p> <p style="text-align:left;">We are taking a 2 pronged approach to the viral neutralization assays, working in collaborations with academic institutions to deliver a cutting edge approach.</p> <p style="text-align:left;">The first, in collaboration with the laboratory Dr. Pei-Yong Shi at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, involves viral-like particles (VLPs) where the structural genes of wild type SARS-CoV-2 virus are removed and replaced with a reporter gene. In this particular case, it's a GFP or green fluorescent protein gene along with a neomycin resistance gene.</p> <p style="text-align:left;">The second approach is a SARS Co-V 2 surrogate neutralization assay used under a license agreement with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. This is the vesicular stomatitis pseudovirion process, commonly used for viral neutralization assays. It’s a different way of expressing an artificial virus. It involves taking the vesicular stomatitis virus genome, replacing some of the genes for VSV by inserting the SARS-CoV-2 spike genes, plus a reporter gene. Expressing that produces a virus-like particle or a pseudovirion that can be utilized. This approach has been used over the years in a wide variety of different applications at Q2 Solutions for example in Ebola.</p> <p style="text-align:left;">The vaccine operation at Q2 Solutions has the infrastructure, the capabilities and support to have a three shift operation. We anticipate