New Research on COVID-19 Vaccine Candidates Shows Broad Protection Against Virus Infection and Transmission

Strategic Insights -

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has developed two intranasal vaccine candidates, one monovalent and one trivalent, that provide broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission. The research, conducted by a team of scientists at Ohio State University, used the attenuated measles virus (MeV) and mumps virus (MuV) Jeryl Lynn (JL1) vaccine strains to induce high levels of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) that efficiently neutralized Omicron subvariants XBB.1.5, EG.5, and JN.1.

Key Takeaways:

  • The study developed two intranasal vaccine candidates, a monovalent and a trivalent, that provide broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission.
  • The monovalent rMuV-JL1-XBB.1.5 vaccine induced high levels of NAbs that efficiently neutralized Omicron subvariants XBB.1.5, EG.5, and JN.1, providing complete protection against these Omicron subvariants.
  • The trivalent vaccine, which expresses the preS-6P of ancestral SARS-CoV-2 WA1 and two Omicron subvariants, BA.1 and XBB.1.5, induced similar levels of Omicron XBB.1.5 NAbs as the monovalent vaccine, even in the presence of immune imprinting induced by the spike of SARS-CoV-2 WA1.
  • Intranasal immunization generated high levels of S-specific mucosal IgA antibodies as well as lung-resident memory T cells in IFNAR1(-/-) mice.
  • The trivalent vaccine efficiently blocked transmission of SARS-CoV-2 WA1 and Omicron XBB.1.5 among hamsters in a direct contact transmission setting.

Statistics:

  • 100% protection against Omicron subvariants XBB.1.5, EG.5, and JN.1 was observed in hamsters immunized with the monovalent rMuV-JL1-XBB.1.5 vaccine.
  • High levels of S-specific mucosal IgA antibodies (up to 10^5 EU/mL) were detected in hamsters immunized with the monovalent rMuV-JL1-XBB.1.5 vaccine.
  • The trivalent vaccine induced high levels of NAbs (up to 1:1,000,000) that efficiently neutralized Omicron subvariants XBB.1.5, EG.5, and JN.1.
  • 100% protection against SARS-CoV-2 WA1 and Omicron XBB.1.5 transmission was observed in hamsters immunized with the trivalent vaccine in a direct contact transmission setting.

Sources:

  • NewsRx. Reports Outline COVID-19 Study Results from Ohio State University (Intranasal Measles Virus-and Mumps Virus-based Sars-cov-2 Vaccine Candidates Prevent Sars-cov-2 Infection and Transmission). Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA. November 2, 2025; p 404.
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Intranasal Measles Virus-and Mumps Virus-based Sars-cov-2 Vaccine Candidates Prevent Sars-cov-2 Infection and Transmission. 2025;122(32).