Large-scale production and purification of VLP-based vaccines

Virus-like particles (VLPs) hold tremendous potential as vaccine candidates. These innovative biopharmaceuticals present the remarkable advantages of closely mimicking the three-dimensional nature of an actual virus while lacking the virus genome packaged inside its capsid. As a result, an equally efficient but safer prophylaxis is anticipated as compared to inactivated or live attenuated viral vaccines. With the advent of successful cases of approved VLP-based vaccines, pharmaceutical companies are indeed redirecting their resources to the development of such products. This paper reviews the current choices and trends of large-scale production and purification of VLP-based vaccines generated through the baculovirus expression vector system using insect cells. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.