Researchers test single vaccine built to prevent future coronavirus pandemics

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have completed the first human trial of a vaccine designed to protect against not just COVID-19 but the entire family of related coronaviruses, including future potential viruses. This is the first time a vaccine whose active component was designed entirely by computer simulations has been tested in humans. Its results were published in the Journal of Infection in June 2026.

This investigational vaccine, called pEVAC-PS, was developed by a team of researchers at Cambridge University, led by Jonathan Heeney, DVM, Ph.D., head of the Lab of Viral Zoonotics, Cambridge University's Department of Veterinary Medicine.

To build the vaccine, Heeney and his team used all the available genetic sequence data for Sarbeco coronaviruses logged by surveillance programs around the world. Then, they used an AI technology platform called Digitally Immune Optimized Synthetic Vaccine to design a super-antigen containing the antigen features common to this group of viruses. Antigens are foreign substances that trigger the body into releasing antibodies. Traditional vaccines use antigens from specific virus strains to train the immune system to recognize and fight that pathogen.

The idea behind Heeney’s development addresses a fundamental weakness in how vaccines are currently made. Shots against COVID-19 and seasonal flu are designed around specific strains already circulating in humans, but by the time they are manufactured and distributed, the strain has often mutated. The pEVAC-PS vaccine works differently: rather than introducing an antigen directly, it delivers genetic instructions that tell the body's own cells to produce the antigen themselves, priming the immune system for a broad range of related viruses."

“We’ve overcome the problem of traditional vaccines, which have limited protection,” Heeney said in a news release. “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.”

The trial enrolled 39 healthy adults between 18 and 50 years old, all of whom had received prior COVID-19 vaccines. They were divided into four groups, each receiving two doses of the same amount: 0.2 mg, 0.4 mg, 0.8 mg or 1.2 mg. Groups were enrolled sequentially, with each higher dose tested only after the previous group had been assessed for safety. The vaccine was delivered without a needle, administered as a DNA vaccine through a microfluidic jet. This method was chosen partly to support use in settings where needles and cold-chain storage are difficult to manage, as can be the case with mRNA vaccines.

Results showed the vaccine was well tolerated at all four dose levels, with no serious side effects. There were seven grade three systemic solicited adverse events experienced in group one, all of which occurred in one participant. The researchers write in the study that these reactions were likely due to a coincidental COVID-19 infection occurring within a week after vaccination.

There were no grade three reactions after the second dose in any group.

Immune responses were modest. Antibody levels rose in the higher-dose groups, but interpreting the results was complicated by the timing of the trial, which ran through successive COVID-19 waves. Many participants were exposed to circulating variants during the study, and most already had substantial immunity from prior vaccination, making it hard to isolate the vaccine's effect.

Despite that, the trial did find that participants developed antibodies targeting conserved regions of the coronavirus spike protein, the parts that stay the same across many different strains. That cross-reactive response is exactly what the vaccine was designed to produce.

The next step for this investigational vaccine is a larger phase 2 trial.