Saskatoon firm isolates coronavirus antigen in plant cells

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A Saskatoon life science company known for its work with medicinal cannabis says it successfully isolated the antigen for SARS-CoV-2 in plant cells.

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Zak Vescera Brent Zettl is CEO of Saskatoon-based ZYUS Life Sciences Inc. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix / Matt Smith) Photo by Matt Smith /Saskatoon StarPhoenix

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A Saskatoon life science company known for its work with medicinal cannabis says it successfully isolated the antigen for SARS-CoV-2 in plant cells.

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Zyus Life Sciences Inc. CEO Brent Zettl says this is an important first step showing that plants can effectively “photocopy” proteins that could be components of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Zyus announced in May that it had partnered with the University of Saskatchewan’s International Vaccine Center (VIDO-InterVac) to replicate a SARS-CoV-2 antigen in plants.

Antigens trigger an immune response in the body, causing it to produce antibodies that fight it. They are an important part of vaccine candidates for COVID-19, including a separate one that VIDO-InterVac has been developing since January.

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Zettl said the antigen Zyus was able to isolate, express and purify triggered a “very strong” response from antibodies taken from recovered COVID-19 patients, suggesting the company is on the right track.

He said the next step is to “polish” the cleaning process to ensure that the results can be consistently reproduced.

“We really want to make sure that it really, really works and, secondly, that we can produce it repeatedly and consistently at the right dose.”

Then Zyus VIDO-InterVac would give the antigen to test on animals. Zettl said that could happen in autumn.

Such antigens are typically obtained by mammalian expression by replicating the required proteins in animal cells.

Although Zyus’s work lags well behind other groups making a COVID-19 vaccine, Zettl said the research could shed light on another possible way to make key vaccine components.

“We still have a lot to do to prove that it is still really functional, ”said Zettl.

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   A COVID-19 vaccine is being developed in the laboratory in Saskatoon

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   Saskatoon Company Uses Plants To Check For COVID-19 Vaccine

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