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This project demonstrates the use of the IEEE 2791-2020 Standard (BioCompute Objects [BCO]) to enable the complete and concise communication of results from next generation sequencing (NGS) analysis. One arm of a clinical trial was replicated using synthetically generated data made to resemble real biological data and then two independent analyses were performed. The first simulated a pharmaceutical regulatory submission to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) including analysis of results and a BCO. The second simulated an FDA review that included an independent analysis of the submitted data. Of the 118 simulated patient samples generated, 117 (99.15%) were in agreement in the two analyses. This process exemplifies how a template BCO (tBCO), including a verification kit, facilitates transparency and reproducibility, thereby reinforcing confidence in the regulatory submission process.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to evolve and recently emerging variants with substitutions in the Spike protein have led to growing concerns over increased transmissibility and decreased vaccine coverage due to immune evasion. Here, sera from recipients of a single dose of our Ad26.COV2.S COVID-19 vaccine were tested for neutralizing activity against several SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. All tested variants demonstrated susceptibility to Ad26.COV2.S-induced serum neutralization albeit mainly reduced as compared to the B.1 strain. Most pronounced reduction was observed for the B.1.351 (Beta; 3.6-fold) and P.1 (Gamma; 3.4-fold) variants that contain similar mutations in the receptor-binding domain (RBD) while only a 1.6-fold reduction was observed for the widely spreading B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant.

Several COVID-19 vaccines have recently gained authorization for emergency use. Limited knowledge on duration of immunity and efficacy of these vaccines is currently available. Data on other coronaviruses after natural infection suggest that immunity to SARS-CoV-2 might be short-lived, and preliminary evidence indicates waning antibody titers following SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this work, we model the relationship between immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a series of Ad26 vectors encoding stabilized variants of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein in rhesus macaques and validate the analyses by challenging macaques 6 months after immunization with the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine candidate that has been selected for clinical development. We show that Ad26.COV2.S confers durable protection against replication of SARS-CoV-2 in the lungs that is predicted by the levels of Spike-binding and neutralizing antibodies, indicating that Ad26.COV2.S could confer durable protection in humans and immunological correlates of protection may enable the prediction of durability of protection., Several COVID-19 vaccines have received emergency approval, but durability of protection is unclear. Here, the authors describe correlates of protection (CoP) for the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine in rhesus macaques and report that CoP predict the protection observed 6 months post vaccination.

The first COVID-19 vaccines have recently gained authorization for emergency use.1,2 At this moment, limited knowledge on duration of immunity and efficacy of these vaccines is available. Data on other coronaviruses after natural infection suggest that immunity to SARS-CoV-2 might be short lived,3,4 and preliminary evidence indicates waning antibody titers following SARS-CoV-2 infection.5 Here we model the relationship between immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a series of Ad26 vectors encoding stabilized variants of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) protein in rhesus macaques6,7,8 and validate the analyses by challenging macaques 6 months after immunization with the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine candidate that has been selected for clinical development. We find that Ad26.COV2.S confers durable protection against replication of SARS-CoV-2 in the lungs that is predicted by the levels of S-binding and neutralizing antibodies. These results suggest that Ad26.COV2.S could confer durable protection in humans and that immunological correlates of protection may enable the prediction of durability of protection.

For regulatory submissions of next generation sequencing (NGS) data it is vital for the analysis workflow to be robust, reproducible, and understandable. This project demonstrates that the use of the IEEE 2791-2020 Standard, (BioCompute objects [BCO]) enables complete and concise communication of NGS data analysis results. One arm of a clinical trial was replicated using synthetically generated data made to resemble real biological data. Two separate, independent analyses were then carried out using BCOs as the tool for communication of analysis: one to simulate a pharmaceutical regulatory submission to the FDA, and another to simulate the FDA review. The two results were compared and tabulated for concordance analysis: of the 118 simulated patient samples generated, the final results of 117 (99.15%) were in agreement. This high concordance rate demonstrates the ability of a BCO, when a verification kit is included, to effectively capture and clearly communicate NGS analyses within regulatory submissions. BCO promotes transparency and induces reproducibility, thereby reinforcing trust in the regulatory submission process.

The contribution of carcinogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) types to the burden of cervical cancer has been well established. However, the role and contribution of phylogenetically related HPV genotypes and rare variants remains uncertain. In a recent global study of 8977 HPV-positive invasive cervical carcinomas (ICCs), the genotype remained unidentified in 3.7% by the HPV SPF10 PCR-DEIA-LiPA25 (version 1) algorithm. The 331 ICC specimens with unknown genotype were analysed by a novel sequence methodology, using multiple selected short regions in L1. This demonstrated HPV genotypes that have infrequently or never been detected in ICC, ie HPV26, 30, 61, 67, 68, 69, 73 and 82, and rare variants of HPV16, 18, 26, 30, 34, 39, 56, 67, 68, 69, 82 and 91. These are not identified individually by LiPA25 and only to some extent by other HPV genotyping assays. Most identified genotypes have a close phylogenetic relationship with established carcinogenic HPVs and have been classified as possibly carcinogenic by IARC. Except for HPV85, all genotypes in α-species 5, 6, 7, 9 and 11 were encountered as single infections in ICCs. These species of established and possibly carcinogenic HPV types form an evolutionary clade. We have shown that the possibly carcinogenic types were detected only in squamous cell carcinomas, which were often keratinizing and diagnosed at a relatively higher mean age (55.3 years) than those associated with established carcinogenic types (50.9 years). The individual frequency of the possibly carcinogenic types in ICCs is low, but together they are associated with 2.25% of the 8338 included ICCs with a single HPV type. This fraction is greater than seven of the established carcinogenic types individually. This study provides evidence that possibly carcinogenic HPV types occur as single infections in invasive cervical cancer, strengthening the circumstantial evidence of a carcinogenic role.

Objective: To describe the HPV genotype distribution in invasive cervical cancer worldwide. Methods: Paraffin embedded cervical cancer cases were collected from historical archives (1920-2005). HPV detection was done through amplification of HPV DNA by SPF-10 broad-spectrum primers PCR subsequently followed by DEIA and genotyping by LiPA25 (version 1). Samples were tested at HPV laboratories at ICO (Barcelona, Spain) and at DDL (The Netherlands). Quality controls between the two labs are occurring regularly. Results presented here originate from samples collected in Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Korea S, Mexico, Mozambique, Netherlands, Nigeria, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, and USA. Samples from Bangladesh, Guatemala, India, Philippines, Taiwan and Venezuela are being tested. Results:13, 239 women were included in the study. Of these, 11, 171 have now been evaluated histologically and 9, 760 were considered suitable for testing. HPV genotype data are available for 8, 785 cases on cervical cancer. The five most common types detected after LIPA were HPV 16 (60.3%), HPV 18 (10.3%), HPV 45 (5.9%), HPV 31 (4.2%) and HPV 33 (4.0%). This distribution was consistent across continents with the exception of Asia where HPV 58 ranked 3rd and in Oceania where HPV 68/73 ranked 4th. HPV 16 and 18 accounted for 70.3% (range by continent= 66.0%-78.4%). This pattern was greatly dominated by squamous carcinomas. Among adenocarcinomas (10% of all tumours), HPV 16 accounted for 47.8% (range by continent= 35.5%-53.2%) and HPV 18 for 29.0% (range by continent= 23.5%-36.9%). Presence of exclusively low risk types accounted for 0.44% of all cases. Multiple infections were detected in 4.8% of the samples. Discussion: HPV 16 and 18 are the most common HPV types in cervical cancer cases around the world.