Vaccine Virus Like Particles

About Vaccine Virus Like Particles

Virus like particles VLPs are protein structures that mimic viruses but contain no genetic material. VLPs cannot replicate but trigger strong immune responses. The first VLP vaccine was the hepatitis B vaccine, licensed in 1986. The HPV vaccine, licensed in 2006, also uses VLP technology. VLPs can be produced in yeast, insect cells, or plants. The self assembly of viral proteins into VLPs presents antigens in their natural conformation, triggering conformational antibodies. The technology has been applied to norovirus, malaria, and influenza vaccine candidates. Mosaic VLPs, displaying antigens from multiple viral strains, are being developed for HIV. VLP vaccines cannot cause infection because they contain no viral genetic material. The main limitation is that VLPs must be produced for each pathogen individually, unlike mRNA platforms. The success of hepatitis B and HPV VLP vaccines established the technology.