Re-infection with SARS-CoV-2 is associated with increased antibody breadth and potency against diverse sarbecovirus strains

Abstract

The ease with which emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants escape neutralizing antibodies limits protection afforded by a prior exposure, be it infection or vaccination. While rare, broadly neutralizing antibodies with activity towards diverse sarbecoviruses have been detected in convalescent serum. Motivated by findings that plasma responses show increased neutralization breadth and potency with continued antigen exposure, we isolated monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) after a SARS-CoV-2 re-infection and compared them to those isolated one year prior, after the first breakthrough infection. Among clonal lineage members identified at both time points, mAbs from the later time point showed improved neutralization potency and breadth. One mAb isolated after re-infection, C68.490, targets a conserved region in the receptor binding domain core and shows remarkable activity not only against SARS-CoV-2 variants, but also diverse sarbecoviruses from more distant clades present in animal reservoirs. These findings suggest that a focus on individuals with diverse and repeated antigen exposure could lead to identification of antibodies with therapeutic utility not just towards current and future SARS-CoV-2 variants, but also distant sarbecoviruses in the event of a future spillover.