Which COVID vaccines have adjuvants?

[mktsgm]

TL;DR Summary

Among the new covid vaccines, which of the vaccines have adjuvants in them?

The Covid disease has caused the emergence of the many of types of vaccines like DNA, mRNA, whole-inactivated-virus etc. Also many companies have brought on similar vaccines (Pfizer and moderna's mRNA vaccine).

I want to know if any of these vaccines have adjuvants present in them. Which of the vaccines have them and which vaccines don't? And why?

I also want to know which type of vaccines for require adjuvants and which type do not require them.

Thanks.

 

[jedishrfu]

Does this answer your questions?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7677582/

 

[mktsgm]

Thanks for your reply.

Does this answer your questions?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7677582/

I am afraid, this article (though a very fine article on the role of adjuvants) does not answer my specific question.

I understand from this article as well as from others, that only live-attenuated vaccines do not actually require adjuvants to stimulate a robust immune response in the host. All other types of vaccines such as inactivated and subunit vaccines require adjuvants to enhance their immunogenicity.

In this line of thinking, I think the Covid vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna do require adjuvants. I am not sure about the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine as it uses a whole virus (adenovirus) as a vector.

I expect a specific answer if the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer/Moderna and the DNA vaccine AstraZeneca do contain adjuvants? If so, what are they?

Thank you,

 

[jedishrfu]

This may be a trade secret of the pharma companies. I know they share research but that doesn't mean they share everything.

 

[Ygggdrasil]

Thanks for your reply.
I am afraid, this article (though a very fine article on the role of adjuvants) does not answer my specific question.

I understand from this article as well as from others, that only live-attenuated vaccines do not actually require adjuvants to stimulate a robust immune response in the host. All other types of vaccines such as inactivated and subunit vaccines require adjuvants to enhance their immunogenicity.

In this line of thinking, I think the Covid vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna do require adjuvants. I am not sure about the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine as it uses a whole virus (adenovirus) as a vector.

I expect a specific answer if the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer/Moderna and the DNA vaccine AstraZeneca do contain adjuvants? If so, what are they?

Thank you,

The mRNA vaccines do not require adjuvants. Here's a nice article describing exactly what's in the Pfizer vaccine (and I would expect the Moderna vaccine to have a similar formulation): https://www.technologyreview.com/20...-the-ingredients-of-pfizers-covid-19-vaccine/

 

[Laroxe]

None of the currently approved vaccines use adjuvants in their formulation though information on the sinovac vaccine is proving difficult to get.
In the simplest terms adjuvants cause a mild inflammatory response that activates the innate immune system, this is a necessary stage for the development of a good adaptive response. With the mRNA vaccines its thought that the entry of the mRNA's into the cell or the start of the RNA production may activate this response another possibility is that the lipid nanoparticles act as an adjuvant but this seems unlikely as they are needed for the mRNA to gain cell entry.
With vaccines that use a viral vector, that in itself may act as a broad immune stimulant. There are vaccines in development that plan to use adjuvants but which of these might be approved is for the future. I don't really think there are set rules about what will need adjuvants and/or why, it really depends and that's something that the best information comes from the initial trials. I expect we will hear more about them in the development of single dose vaccines which might need an enhanced response.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.589833/full

 

[Vally]

Late to the discussion but I'd also love to know if there's been any updates in the 9 months since this thread was active.

I too don't fully understand why an mRNA vaccine wouldn't require adjuvants when a subunit vaccine would.

The proteins synthesized due to the mRNA are the exact same ones that would be delivered directly in the case of a subunit vaccine, so what is it about the process of synthesis (or perhaps delivery) that alerts the immune system?

 

[bhobba]

None of the current vaccines used in Australia, the UK, and the US uses adjuvants (ie AZ, Pfizer, JJ or Moderna). The one that likely will be availabe soon and be used in the US, UK and Australia that has an adjuvant is the Novavax vaccine:
https://mvec.mcri.edu.au/references/novavax-covid-19-vaccine/

An outlier created in Australia that people may widely use is Covax-19:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772371221000048

It also uses an adjuvant. It may become widely used as it is the only one I have heard of with evidence it completely blocks transmission. But only time will tell.

JJ and AZ are vector vaccines meaning they take a harmless virus, like a chimpanzee cold virus and modify it so the human immune system thinks it is a Covid virus hence produces antibodies against Covid. Moderna and Pfizer are mRNA vaccines. They enter cells and instruct them to produce the Covid spike protein that the body thinks is the Covid virus and so produces antibodies. The big advantage of mRNA vaccines is how rapidly they can be developed and how strong a response is elicited. It is that strong response I suspect that makes an adjuvant redundant.

Thanks
Bill

 

[Ygggdrasil]

Late to the discussion but I'd also love to know if there's been any updates in the 9 months since this thread was active.

I too don't fully understand why an mRNA vaccine wouldn't require adjuvants when a subunit vaccine would.

The proteins synthesized due to the mRNA are the exact same ones that would be delivered directly in the case of a subunit vaccine, so what is it about the process of synthesis (or perhaps delivery) that alerts the immune system?

Some of the lipids used in the lipid nanoparticles of the mRNA vaccines can stimulate the innate immune system, which means that they have adjuvant-like effects (e.g. see https://www.nature.com/articles/s41578-021-00358-0 for more discussion). Furthermore, the lipids in mRNA vaccines are specifically formulated so that the vaccine will be preferentially taken up by dendritic cells, which are specialized immune cells that surveil the body for antigens then present the antigens to immature B- and T-cells to promote their activation.

 

[atyy]

The mRNA vaccines do not require adjuvants. Here's a nice article describing exactly what's in the Pfizer vaccine (and I would expect the Moderna vaccine to have a similar formulation): https://www.technologyreview.com/20...-the-ingredients-of-pfizers-covid-19-vaccine/

As in your post #9, the lipids used in the RNA vaccines have an adjuvant-like effect. For a tolerizing RNA vaccine (in which we wish to get rid of an immune response, instead of training it), different lipids that don't have an adjuvant-like effect are used: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7875549/. In the case of the AstraZeneca and J&J vaccines, adenoviruses have adjuvant-like effects. The Sinovac/Sinopharm/Covaxin inactivated virus vaccines use a traditional adjuvant (eg. aluminium hydroxide).

 

[Laroxe]

Late to the discussion but I'd also love to know if there's been any updates in the 9 months since this thread was active.

I too don't fully understand why an mRNA vaccine wouldn't require adjuvants when a subunit vaccine would.

The proteins synthesized due to the mRNA are the exact same ones that would be delivered directly in the case of a subunit vaccine, so what is it about the process of synthesis (or perhaps delivery) that alerts the immune system?

Unfortunately the need for and use of adjuvants is not quite as well understood as is often implied. It is still the case that often the need is identified empirically following the initial testing of the immunogenicity of the vaccine antigens, with a rational developed afterwards for the addition of an adjuvant. Alum has been used since the 1920s, but It's only recently, that more potential adjuvants have been identified, with claims of more specific effects on the initial responses of the innate immune system. As other answers suggest, there are other components present in vaccines that may also provide an initial non-specific immune response that can act as an adjuvant.

Currently, vaccine development for Covid-19 vaccines has slowed considerably as new vaccines have to at least match the efficacy of the current vaccines, show added benefits and show a potential for profit for the companies involved, in a world where recruitment of research subjects is becoming increasingly problematic. Several promising candidates have already simply been dropped. Vaccines using novel adjuvants also face the additional problem of enhanced safety checks. It's becoming increasingly likely that many vaccines in development will delay seeking approval and with those using the most novel technologies, considered the most risky, development may simply stop.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41573-021-00163-y