- Early Warning System combines Spike protein structural modeling with artificial intelligence (AI) to detect and monitor high-risk SARS-CoV-2 variants, identifying >90% of
WHO -designated variants on average two months prior to officially receiving the designation - Study introduces a new method of combining publicly available SARS-CoV-2 sequence information with predictive analytics to effectively detect and monitor potential high-risk variants which could help increase preparedness against future variants of concern
- Early Warning System is fully scalable as new variant data become available
- Study is available on the pre-print server BioRxiv and has been submitted to a peer-reviewed journal
MAINZ,
The new method combines structural modeling of the viral Spike protein and AI algorithms to quickly flag potential high-risk variants entered into SARS-CoV-2 sequence data repositories within less than a day based on metrics scoring their fitness (e.g. ACE2 and variant Spike protein interaction) as well as their immune escape properties. The companies validated these predictions using experimental data generated in-house and publicly available data.
During the trial period, the system has identified >90% of the
The results from the study underline that the EWS is capable of evaluating new variants in minutes and risk monitoring variant lineages nearly in real-time. It is also fully scalable as new variant data becomes available.
“With the advanced computational methods we have been developing over the past months we can analyse sequence information of the Spike protein and rank new variants according to their predicted immune escape and ACE2 binding score,” said
“More than 10,000 novel variant sequences are currently discovered every week and human experts simply cannot cope with complex data at this scale. We’ve addressed this challenge by deploying the powerful AI capabilities of InstaDeep’s DeepChain platform combined with BioNTech’s SARS-CoV-2 know-how and technology. For the first time, high-risk variants could be detected on the spot, potentially saving months of precious time. We are happy to make our research work publicly available and, most importantly, look forward to its continued real-world impact,” added Karim Beguir, Co-Founder and CEO of InstaDeep.
The Early Warning System (EWS) relies on two approaches: (1) structural modeling of the interaction of the viral Spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) with the host cell receptor and scoring the impact of the virus variant in escaping the immune response, and (2) AI-based predictive modeling to extract information from hundreds of thousands of registered virus variants from global sequence repositories. The EWS computes an immune escape score and a fitness (transmissibility potential) prior score. While the immune escape score alone was already highly predictive of the risk, combining these two metrics into a Pareto score provided the best assessment of the risk posed by a given virus variant. The higher the score, the higher the risk of the variant impacting global health. The EWS approach ranks SARS-CoV-2 variants for immune escape and fitness potential based solely on existing data, and therefore is not dependent on a “wait-and-watch” approach.
The EWS was able to distinguish the
The data published as a pre-print is the result of a collaboration established between
About SARS-CoV-2 Mutations
The last two years have demonstrated how the frequent and wide circulation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus increases its likelihood to mutate in parts of its genetic make-up with the potential to change its features. Current known variants harbor mutations that distinguish them from the original strain identified in early 2020. Over 13,400 individual missense mutations have been observed in the Spike protein alone. Available data show that thousands of new variants are emerging every week at an increasing rate, with a weekly average of registered variants of about 300 in
While most mutations either reduce the overall fitness of the virus, or bear no consequences to its features, some individual or combinations of mutations lead to high-risk variants (HRVs) with modified immune evasion capabilities and/or improved transmissibility. A variant that can bypass neutralization by antibodies is of particular importance and poses a risk to individuals
As new sequences continue to be detected in infected individuals, foreseeing variants that have the potential to become HRVs is critical for pandemic preparedness. Identifying these variants creates a significant challenge for public health authorities as detection by varied tests in the lab is very time consuming. The EWS allows for early detection of these variants and shortens the time that health authorities need to assess their impact and respond in a timely manner.
About
Biopharmaceutical New Technologies is a next generation immunotherapy company pioneering novel therapies for cancer and other serious diseases. The Company exploits a wide array of computational discovery and therapeutic drug platforms for the rapid development of novel biopharmaceuticals. Its broad portfolio of oncology product candidates includes individualized and off-the-shelf mRNA-based therapies, innovative chimeric antigen receptor T cells, bi-specific checkpoint immuno-modulators, targeted cancer antibodies and small molecules. Based on its deep expertise in mRNA vaccine development and in-house manufacturing capabilities,
BioNTech Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” of
For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, see the section entitled “Risk Factors” BioNTech’s Annual Report as Form 20-F for the Year Ended
About InstaDeep
Founded in 2014, InstaDeep is today an EMEA leader in decision-making AI products for the Enterprise, with headquarters in
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