Differential Evasion of Delta and Omicron Immunity and Enhanced Fusogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.4/5 and BA.2.12.1 Subvariants

Abstract

The rising case numbers of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.4, BA.5, and BA.2.12.1 subvariants has generated serious concern about the course of the pandemic. Here we examine the neutralization resistance, infectivity, processing, and fusogenicity of spike from the BA.4/5 and BA.2.12.1 SARS-CoV-2 variants compared with other Omicron subvariants and Delta. Critically, we found that the new Omicron subvariants BA.4/5 and BA.2.12.1 were more resistant to neutralization by mRNA-vaccinated and boosted health care worker sera and Omicron-BA.1-wave patient sera than were the BA.1 and BA.2 variants. Interestingly, Delta-wave patient sera neutralized more efficiently against not only Delta but also BA.4/5 and BA.2.12.1 variants that also contain substitutions at position L452, similar to Delta. The BA.4/5 and BA.2.12.1 variants also exhibited higher fusogenicity, and increased spike processing, dependent on the L452 substitution. These results highlight the key role of the L452R and L452Q mutations in BA.4/5 and BA.2.12.1 subvariants.