Cambridge AI-designed vaccine shows safety in humans

A University of Cambridge team and spin-out DIOSynVax reported that a first-in-human trial of an AI-designed "super-antigen" vaccine was safe and immunogenic. Per a University of Cambridge press release and trial reporting, the Phase 1 study enrolled **39 healthy volunteers** between December 2021 and September 2023 and tested a vaccine candidate intended to provide broad protection against **Sarbeco coronaviruses**, including SARS-CoV-2. The studies, published in the Journal of Infection and described in institutional press releases (University of Cambridge; University Hospital Southampton), state that the vaccine, whose active component was "designed entirely by computer simulations," triggered immune responses to SARS-CoV-2, SARS and related bat coronaviruses and produced no significant side-effects in the small cohort. The research teams say a larger Phase 2 study is planned to assess broader immunogenicity and diversity of responses.