Immunity and Safety of Covid-19 Synthetic Minigene Vaccine

Phase I/II Multicenter Trial of Lentiviral Minigene Vaccine (LV-SMENP) of Covid-19 Coronavirus

In December 2019, viral pneumonia caused by a novel beta-coronavirus (Covid-19) broke out in Wuhan, China. Some patients rapidly progressed and suffered severe acute respiratory failure and died, making it imperative to develop a safe and effective vaccine to treat and prevent severe Covid-19 pneumonia. Based on detailed analysis of the viral genome and search for potential immunogenic targets, a synthetic minigene has been engineered based on conserved domains of the viral structural proteins and a polyprotein protease. The infection of Covid-19 is mediated through binding of the Spike protein to the ACEII receptor, and the viral replication depends on molecular mechanisms of all of these viral proteins. This trial proposes to develop and test innovative Covid-19 minigenes engineered based on multiple viral genes, using an efficient lentiviral vector system (NHP/TYF) to express viral proteins and immune modulatory genes to modify dendritic cells (DCs) and to activate T cells. In this study, the safety and efficacy of this LV vaccine (LV-SMENP) will be investigated.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Pathogen Infection Covid-19 Infection
• Intervention / Treatment: Biological: Injection and infusion of LV-SMENP-DC vaccine and antigen-specific CTLs

Detailed Description

Background: The 2019 discovered new coronavirus, Covid-19, is an enveloped positive strand single strand RNA virus. The number of Covid-19 infected people has increased rapidly and WHO has warned that the spread of Covid-19 may soon become pandemic and have disastrous outcomes. Covid-19 could pose a serious threat to human health and global economy. There is no vaccine available or clinically approved antiviral therapy as yet. This study aims to evaluate the safety and efficacy of treating Covid-19 infections with a novel lentiviral based DC and T cell vaccines.

Objective: Primary study objectives: Injection and infusion of LV-SMENP DC and antigen-specific cytotoxic T cell vaccines to healthy volunteers and Covid-19 infected patients to evaluate the safety.

Secondary study objectives: To evaluate the anti- Covid-19 efficacy of the LV-SMENP DC and antigen-specific cytotoxic T cell vaccines.

Design:

1. Based on the genomic sequence of the new coronavirus Covid-19, select conserved and critical structural and protease protein domains to engineer lentiviral SMENP minigenes to express Covid-19 antigens.
2. LV-SMENP-DC vaccine is made by modifying DC with lentivirus vectors expressing Covid-19 minigene SMENP and immune modulatory genes. CTLs will be activated by LV-DC presenting Covid-19 specific antigens.
3. LV-DC vaccine and antigen-specific CTLs are prepared in 7~21 days. Subject will receive total 5x10^6 cells of LV-DC vaccine and 1x10^8 antigen-specific CTLs via sub-cutaneous injection and IV infusion, respectively. Patients are followed weekly for one month after the infusion, monthly for 3 months, and then every 3 months until the trial ends.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 100
• Phase: Phase 2; Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• China
  • Guangdong
    • Shenzhen, Guangdong, China, 518000
      • Shenzhen Geno-immune Medical Institute

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 6 months to 80 years (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Laboratory (RT-PCR) confirmed Covid-19 infection in throat swab and/or sputum and/or lower respiratory tract samples;
• The interval between the onset of symptoms and randomized is within 7 days. The onset of symptoms is mainly based on fever. If there is no fever, cough or other related symptoms can be used;
• White blood cells ≥ 3,500 / μl, lymphocytes ≥ 750 / μl;
• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) or tuberculosis (TB) test is negative;
• Sign the Informed Consent Form on a voluntary basis;

Exclusion Criteria:

• Subject infected with HCV (HCV antibody positive), HBV (HBsAg positive), HIV (HIV antibody positive), or HTLV (HTLV antibody positive).
• Subject is albumin-intolerant.
• Subject with life expectancy less than 4 weeks.
• Subject participated in other investigational somatic cell therapies within past 30 days.
• Subject with positive pregnancy test result.
• Researchers consider unsuitable.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: pathogen-specific DC and CTLs; Patients will receive approximately 5x10^6 LV-DC vaccine and 1x10^8 CTLs via sub-cutaneous injections and iv infusions, respectively.	Biological: Injection and infusion of LV-SMENP-DC vaccine and antigen-specific CTLs; Patients will receive approximately 5x10^6 LV-DC vaccine and 1x10^8 CTLs via sub-cutaneous injections and iv infusions, respectively.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Clinical improvement based on the 7-point scale	A decline of 2 points on the 7-point scale from admission means better outcome. The 7-category ordinal scale that ranges from 1 (discharged with normal activity) to 7 (death).	28 days after randomization
Lower Murray lung injury score	Murray lung injury score decrease more than one point means better outcome. The Murray scoring system range from 0 to 4 according to the severity of the condition.	7 days after randomization

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
28-day mortality	Number of deaths during study follow-up	Measured from Day 0 through Day 28
Duration of mechanical ventilation	Duration of mechanical ventilation use in days. Multiple mechanical ventilation durations are summed up.	Measured from Day 0 through Day 28
Duration of hospitalization	Days that a participant spent at the hospital. Multiple hospitalizations are summed up.	Measured from Day 0 through Day 28
Proportion of patients with negative RT-PCR results	Proportion of patients with negative RT-PCR results of virus in upper and/or lower respiratory tract samples.	7 and 14 days after randomization
Proportion of patients in each category of the 7-point scale	Proportion of patients in each category of the 7-point scale, the 7-category ordinal scale that ranges from 1 (discharged with normal activity) to 7 (death).	7,14 and 28 days after randomization
Proportion of patients with normalized inflammation factors	Proportion of patients with different inflammation factors in normalization range.	7 and 14 days after randomization
Frequency of vaccine/CTL Events	Frequency of vaccine/CTL Events	Measured from Day 0 through Day 28
Frequency of Serious vaccine/CTL Events	Frequency of Serious vaccine/CTL Events	Measured from Day 0 through Day 28

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Shenzhen Geno-Immune Medical Institute
• Collaborators: Shenzhen Second People's Hospital; Shenzhen Third People's Hospital
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Lung-Ji Chang, PhD, Shenzhen Geno-immune Medical Institute

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Actual): July 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 17, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 17, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): February 19, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 24, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 21, 2026
• Last Verified: August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Lentiviral vector; LV-DC vaccine; Covid-19 CTL
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Coronavirus Infections; Coronaviridae Infections; Nidovirales Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Infections; Respiratory Tract Infections; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Pneumonia, Viral; Pneumonia; Lung Diseases; COVID-19; Therapeutics; Drug Administration Routes; Drug Therapy; Injections
• Other Study ID Numbers: GIMI-IRB-20001

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No