AI-designed universal coronavirus vaccine passes first human trial

A new type of universal coronavirus vaccine has passed its first human clinical trial, marking an important step toward broader protection against future virus outbreaks.

Developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge and the university spinout company DIOSynVax (DVX) Ltd, the experimental vaccine was found to be safe and caused no significant side effects in a study involving 39 healthy volunteers.

Unlike conventional vaccines that target specific virus strains, this vaccine was designed to protect against multiple members of the Sarbeco coronavirus family. This group includes SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as SARS and several related bat coronaviruses that could potentially spill over into humans in the future.

The trial showed that the vaccine stimulated immune responses not only against SARS-CoV-2 and SARS, but also against related bat viruses that have not yet infected humans.

The findings were published in the Journal of Infection.

AI Designed Vaccine Technology

The study also marked another milestone. It was the first time a vaccine whose active ingredient was created entirely through computer simulations was tested in people.

Researchers used artificial intelligence and machine learning to design what they call a "super-antigen." The antigen is the component of a vaccine that trains the immune system to recognize and fight infection.

Rather than focusing on a single virus strain, the AI system analyzed genetic information from Sarbeco coronaviruses collected through surveillance programs worldwide. Using this information, it identified features shared across the entire virus group and combined them into a single vaccine antigen.

The goal is to create protection not only against known viruses, but also against future strains that have not yet emerged.

"This trial proves the safety of an entirely new way of designing vaccines. The technology uses an AI-designed 'super-antigen' to provide lasting protection against a broad range of viruses -- for example the Ebola group, or Sarbeco coronavirus group -- even as they mutate."

Researchers believe the same strategy could eventually be applied to other virus families, including Ebola viruses and influenza viruses.

Moving Beyond Constant Vaccine Updates

Many current vaccines, including seasonal flu shots and updated COVID-19 vaccines, are designed around virus strains already circulating in people. Because viruses evolve continuously, vaccines often need regular reformulation and annual updates.

Professor Jonathan Heeney from the Lab of Viral Zoonotics in the University of Cambridge's Department of Veterinary Medicine, who led the scientific research, said the new approach could help solve that problem.

"We've converted vaccine development from being reactive to being future proof. Our vaccines will continue to provide protection against viruses even as they mutate into new strains," said Heeney.

He added: "We've overcome the problem of traditional vaccines, which have limited protection. It means we can escape the constant cycle of chasing the virus variants circulating in humans and updating the vaccines to try to catch up, like a dog chasing its tail."

By targeting features shared across an entire virus family, researchers hope the vaccine will remain effective even as new variants appear.

Human Clinical Trial Results

Volunteers between the ages of 18 and 50 received the vaccine at National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Facilities in Southampton and Cambridge.

The study was sponsored by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHSFT).

The vaccine's super-antigen can be used with several different vaccine delivery platforms. In this trial, researchers delivered it as a DNA vaccine using a micro fluid jet system.

Because the method does not require a needle, it could offer an alternative for people who are uncomfortable with injections. Researchers also believe it may make large scale vaccination campaigns easier and faster, particularly in settings where traditional injections are more difficult to administer.

Before human testing began, animal studies showed the vaccine could generate strong immune responses against multiple coronaviruses.

The vaccine still requires additional testing before it could become available for public use. A larger Phase 2 study is planned to evaluate immune responses in a broader and more diverse group of participants and to confirm the vaccine's ability to generate strong, wide ranging protection.

Preparing for Future Pandemic Threats

Scientists say the need for broader vaccine protection remains urgent because many potentially dangerous viruses continue to circulate in animals around the world.

"Viruses like Influenza, Coronaviruses and the Ebola group are evolving continuously and by the time vaccines are rolled out, they may be poorly matched -- the current "reactive" vaccine system struggles to keep pace," said Professor Saul Faust from the University of Southampton, the trial's chief investigator.

He added: "This new class of universal vaccines are future-proofed. They not only protect against many variants simultaneously, but potentially against related viruses that haven't yet emerged and spilt over to humans.

"If we can develop and clinically advance this new class of vaccines before a virus outbreak begins, millions of lives could be saved, lockdowns avoided and the economy preserved."

Professor Marian Knight, Scientific Director for NIHR Infrastructure, described the results as an important advance.

"The remarkable success of this AI-designed 'super-antigen' trial marks a pivotal leap forward in our ability to deliver broad, lasting viral protection."

She added: "This milestone was only made possible through partnerships between the life sciences sector and our world-class NIHR infrastructure in Cambridge and Southampton, whose Clinical Research Facilities provided the vital expertise and environment needed to safely fast-track this innovation, and bring it one big step closer to patients."

Researchers note that SARS-CoV-2 and other Sarbeco coronaviruses remain public health concerns. At the same time, many other viruses continue to circulate in animals and could potentially cross into humans, although it is impossible to predict which virus might emerge next or when.

The project was funded primarily by Innovate UK.

DIOSynVax, short for Digitally Immune Optimised Synthetic Vaccines, was founded in 2017 as a University of Cambridge spinout with support from Cambridge Enterprise, the university's commercialization arm.

The company's vaccine development pipeline also includes candidates targeting seasonal influenza, pandemic influenza threats, hemorrhagic fever viruses, and coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2.

Jonathan Heeney is Professor of Comparative Pathology at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Darwin College.

Journal Reference:

1. Alasdair PS Munro, Matteo Ferrari, Rebecca Kinsley, Daniel Egan, Sneha Vishwanath, Thomas Bower, Andrew Chan, Matthew Davies, Joanne Marie M. Del Rosario, Ron Moss, Yvanne Enever, Benedict Asbach, Ralf Wagner, Rachel Bousfield, Krishna Chatterjee, Victoria Cornelius, Saul N. Faust, Jonathan L. Heeney. A phase I, needle free, dose escalation clinical trial of pEVAC-PS, a candidate pan-Sarbecovirus Vaccine. Journal of Infection, 2026; 92 (6): 106759 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinf.2026.106759

Courtesy:

University of Cambridge. "AI-designed universal coronavirus vaccine passes first human trial." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 5 June 2026. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260605023357.htm>.  

 

 

Popular joint supplement glucosamine linked to faster Alzheimer’s progression

A widely used supplement marketed for joint pain relief may be linked to faster progression of Alzheimer's disease, according to new research from the University of Florida.

The study found that people with mild cognitive impairment who reported taking glucosamine were more likely to progress to dementia than those who did not use the supplement. Researchers also uncovered evidence suggesting that glucosamine may interact with biological processes in the brain that are already disrupted in Alzheimer's disease.

The findings, published June 9 in Nature Metabolism, are based on a large analysis of patient health records combined with advanced imaging studies of human brain tissue and mouse models of Alzheimer's disease.

Although the results do not prove that glucosamine causes dementia and will need to be confirmed in clinical trials, researchers say the work adds to growing evidence that metabolic dysfunction plays an important role in neurodegenerative diseases.

"In the United States, there are about 7 million people living with Alzheimer's and millions more with related dementias such as Lewy body or frontotemporal dementia," said senior author Ramon Sun, Ph.D., director of the Center for Advanced Spatial Biomolecule Research and associate director for innovation of UF's McKnight Brain Institute. "A lot of these people actively take an over-the-counter supplement that could be making their disease progression worse."

Glucosamine Use and Dementia Risk

Because glucosamine is widely available and frequently used by older adults to support joint health, the researchers wanted to determine whether it could influence Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD).

Working with collaborators Yi Guo, Ph.D., and Jiang Bian, Ph.D., the team used artificial intelligence to analyze deidentified UF Health records collected between 2012 and 2024. They focused on patients diagnosed with either ADRD or mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Among those patients, researchers found that glucosamine use was relatively common. A total of 1,896 patients with ADRD and 2,750 patients with MCI reported taking the supplement, representing about 8% of each group.

After accounting for factors such as age, sex, and demographics, the analysis showed that glucosamine use was associated with a 25% greater likelihood that patients with MCI would later develop dementia.

Researchers also observed that glucosamine use was linked to a 25% increase in mortality risk among people already diagnosed with ADRD. No similar increase was seen among patients with MCI, suggesting that the supplement's effects may differ depending on the stage of disease.

A Potentially Important Metabolic Pathway

The study also pointed to a specific biological process that may help explain the association.

Researchers identified evidence that a protein and sugar-tagging pathway is excessively active in Alzheimer's disease. According to the team, this pathway could represent a new target for future treatments.

"Our results suggest that altered metabolism is a significant contributor to Alzheimer's progression and, in addition, addressing the metabolic defect could be an important complement to approaches focused on Alzheimer's plaques and tangles," Sun said.

The discovery was made possible by advanced spatial analysis technology developed in Sun's laboratory.

"This technology allows us to examine thousands and thousands of molecules created when the body breaks down food or drugs and to uncover intricate pathways that otherwise would stay hidden," Sun said.

How Glucosamine Affects the Brain

To investigate further, researchers focused on glucosamine because it is a naturally occurring sugar-related molecule that can cross the blood-brain barrier. Once in the brain, it can contribute to biochemical pathways involved in building complex sugar structures on proteins. Commercial glucosamine supplements are often produced from materials such as shellfish shells or corn.

The findings suggest that glucosamine's effects may depend heavily on the biological environment in which it is acting.

"The electronic health record data are very provocative," said Matt Gentry, Ph.D., chair of UF's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a study co-author. "While it's an association and not proof of causality, it does raise an important clinical question that now deserves much more attention."

According to Gentry, the Alzheimer's brain may be especially susceptible to disruptions in this pathway compared with healthy brain tissue.

Experiments in genetically modified mice provided additional support for the hypothesis.

Researchers found that glucosamine significantly increased the attachment of sugar molecules to proteins within cells. Mice receiving glucosamine also showed worsening deficits in social memory, which is the ability to recognize and remember other individuals.

When scientists chemically reduced this sugar-tagging activity, memory performance improved.

The team then examined human brain tissue from the UF Neuromedicine Brain and Tissue Bank in collaboration with Stefan Prokop, M.D. Compared with healthy control samples, Alzheimer's brain specimens showed substantially higher levels of sugar attachment to proteins.

Taken together, the researchers say these findings suggest that this metabolic abnormality may actively contribute to Alzheimer's disease rather than simply occur as a consequence of it.

"Proteins are the cell's molecular machines, and many of them need sugar tags added in just the right way to fold correctly, travel to the right place and do their jobs," Gentry said. "What we found in Alzheimer's is that this sugar-tagging system appears to be overactive. The Alzheimer's brain is adding too many of these sugar structures, and this seems to contribute to the disease rather than protect against it."

Journal Reference:

1. Tara R. Hawkinson, Zizhen Liu, Roberto A. Ribas, Terrymar Medina, Rikke S. Nielsen, Harrison A. Clarke, Xin Ma, Angela C. Mueller, Adrielle F. Plasencia, Alexander L. Sheer, Samantha T. Simpson, Charles M. Soto, Jessica Sudderth, Feng Cai, Alex R. Cantrell, Matthieu G. Colpaert, Cameron J. Shedlock, Lei Wu, Lyndsay E. A. Young, Damon D. Kooser, Li Chen, Alison M. Ryan, Sadi Quinones, Jihye Son, Parastoo Azadi, Ralph J. Deberardinis, Stefan Prokop, Derek Allison, Shuang Yang, Hongyu Chen, Yu Huang, Xing He, Kimberly M. Alonge, Jingchuan Guo, Yi Guo, Jiang Bian, Craig W. Vander Kooi, Matthew S. Gentry, Ramon C. Sun. Hyperglycosylation is a metabolic driver of Alzheimer’s disease. Nature Metabolism, 2026; DOI: 10.1038/s42255-026-01538-4

Courtesy:

UF Health. "Popular joint supplement glucosamine linked to faster Alzheimer’s progression." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 10 June 2026. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/06/260610003044.htm>.