VacciTUTOR | 2021
DNA Vaccines
Abstract
DNA vaccines were first discovered more than 30 years ago.\n\nBecause DNA vaccines result in antigen production in situ (i.e., mimic a virus infection), they elicit broad-based immune responses, including antibodies and T cells.\n\nInduction of protective immunity has been established in scores of animal models of infectious and non-infectious diseases.\n\nHundreds of human clinical trials have been conducted demonstrating safety and, in many cases, antigen-specific immune responses.\n\nSeveral animal health vaccines based on DNA have been approved and are in use.\n\nMany DNA vaccines are in various stages of human clinical testing, including a few in phase 3 efficacy trials and the recent Emergency Use Authorization of a COVID-19 vaccine, but to date no DNA vaccines have been fully licensed for human use.\n\nDNA vaccines are thermostable and amenable to large-scale manufacturing at relatively low cost, hence well-suited for global use, particularly in the developing world.\n\nIf potency in humans could be achieved, DNA vaccines would have the potential to be a radical innovation that could disrupt the vaccine industry.