Scientists at The Pirbright Institute have tested an innovative vaccine platform developed by SpyBiotech Ltd that could transform how coronaviruses are controlled in livestock, and potentially help guard against future zoonotic outbreaks in humans.
Respiratory coronaviruses remain a major global health concern, highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic and earlier outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Many of these viruses originate in animals. Pigs are of particular interest as they are susceptible to multiple coronaviruses some of which cause serve morbidity and mortality in pigs but also some types of porcine coronaviruses can be transmitted to humans.
Writing in the journal Vaccine, Pirbright and SpyBiotech researchers describe how they used a natural pig model of respiratory coronavirus infection to evaluate a next-generation vaccine.
Their approach was based on a replication-defective adenovirus vector - an engineered DNA virus used in biotechnology to deliver genetic material, such as a gene or a vaccine antigen, directly into the target cell. The platform is enhanced using a molecular “superglue” system, allowing viral proteins to be displayed also on the surface of the vaccine particle.
The team showed vaccines encoding key coronavirus proteins, Spike (S) and Nucleocapsid (N), were highly effective in pigs, significantly reducing viral load and almost completely preventing lung damage following infection. When the vaccine particles were ‘decorated’ with an additional spike fragment, known as the receptor-binding domain (RBD), immune responses improved.
Animals receiving the decorated vaccine showed stronger neutralising antibody responses in both blood and lung samples, along with indications of reduced viral shedding from the upper respiratory tract, suggesting potential to limit transmission.
Recognising the diversity of coronaviruses in pigs, researchers tested a ‘cocktail’ vaccine combining three different adenovirus constructs, each displaying RBDs from distinct porcine coronaviruses. This multivalent strategy successfully generated robust antibody responses against all targeted viruses, demonstrating potential as a broadly protective approach.
Currently, there are no licensed vaccines for several important pig coronaviruses, including Porcine Hemagglutinating Encephalomyelitis Virus (PHEV) and Porcine Deltacoronavirus (PDCoV). The ability to target multiple viruses simultaneously could represent a significant advance for livestock health.
Professor Elma Tchilian, Pirbright’s Group Leader in Mucosal Immunology, who led the research, said:
“Our study highlights the value of the pig as a large, natural host model for studying respiratory coronavirus infections and testing vaccine strategies. The findings offer insights to inform the development of next-generation vaccines for emerging human coronaviruses. By combining strong antibody and T cell responses with a flexible and scalable platform, our approach may help address the ongoing challenge of viral evolution and immune escape.”
Dr Matthew Dicks, Group Leader at SpyBiotech and co-lead author of the study said: “This study showcases the ability of our decorated-adenovirus vaccine platform, SpyVector, to generate potent, protective immunity in a large animal model, delivering stronger antibody responses than conventional adenoviral vaccines. We were particularly encouraged by the reduced viral burden observed in the upper respiratory tract, suggesting the platform could support efforts to reduce transmission of respiratory pathogens. Highly versatile by design, SpyVector can be deployed against a broad range of infectious agents in both prophylactic and therapeutic vaccine applications”.
SpyBiotech is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel vaccine platform technologies to target infectious diseases, cancer, and chronic diseases. Spun out of the University of Oxford in 2017, SpyBiotech's platform is built on a proprietary protein "superglue" technology that binds antigens to vaccine delivery platforms in a way that minimizes delivery risk and enhances immunogenicity and efficacy.
Read the paper: ‘Efficacy of a novel antigen-decorated adenoviral vaccine platform against porcine respiratory coronavirus infection in a large natural host’ – Vaccine, Volume 80, 30 April 2026.