Epidemiology and virological characteristics of the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant PJ.2.1
- 1German Primate Center
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 continues to circulate globally at high levels and to evolve into new variants. Recently, a new saltation variant harbouring a highly mutated spike protein, PJ.2.1, emerged in North America. Here, we provide a brief epidemiological and virological characterization of PJ.2.1 and cocirculating variants. We report that PJ.2.1 is spreading in the USA, Canada, and Spain and mainly infects individuals aged 60 years and older, as do most other variants, with the exception of BA.3.2, which preferentially infects individuals aged 0-9 years. PJ.2.1 was less susceptible to inhibition by an antibody against ACE2 than were the other variants, indicating increased ACE2 binding. In contrast, PJ.2.1 did not show augmented evasion of antibodies from vaccinees who had received the LP.8.1-adapted vaccine compared with most other variants analysed. These results suggest that augmented ACE2 affinity rather than increased antibody evasion might drive the current, rapid spread of PJ.2.1.
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BibTeX
@misc{hoffmann2026epidemiology,
title = {{Epidemiology and virological characteristics of the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant PJ.2.1}},
author = {M. Hoffmann and L. Zhang and N. Chen and N. Moor and I. Nehlmeier and L. Graichen and A.-S. Moldenhauer and A. Dopfer-Jablonka and C. Happle and G. M. N. Behrens and S. Poehlmann},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.08.757354},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757354v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Epidemiology and virological characteristics of the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variant PJ.2.1
AU - M. Hoffmann
AU - L. Zhang
AU - N. Chen
AU - N. Moor
AU - I. Nehlmeier
AU - L. Graichen
AU - A.-S. Moldenhauer
AU - A. Dopfer-Jablonka
AU - C. Happle
AU - G. M. N. Behrens
AU - S. Poehlmann
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/08
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.08.757354
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757354v1
AB - SARS-CoV-2 continues to circulate globally at high levels and to evolve into new variants. Recently, a new saltation variant harbouring a highly mutated spike protein, PJ.2.1, emerged in North America. Here, we provide a brief epidemiological and virological characterization of PJ.2.1 and cocirculating variants. We report that PJ.2.1 is spreading in the USA, Canada, and Spain and mainly infects individuals aged 60 years and older, as do most other variants, with the exception of BA.3.2, which preferentially infects individuals aged 0-9 years. PJ.2.1 was less susceptible to inhibition by an antibody against ACE2 than were the other variants, indicating increased ACE2 binding. In contrast, PJ.2.1 did not show augmented evasion of antibodies from vaccinees who had received the LP.8.1-adapted vaccine compared with most other variants analysed. These results suggest that augmented ACE2 affinity rather than increased antibody evasion might drive the current, rapid spread of PJ.2.1.
ER -