The exciting potential of modular nanoparticles for rapid development of highly effective vaccines

Most current vaccine strategies employ live-attenuated or killed versions of the pathogen. While effective in the developed world, expense and cold-chain dependence make broad access to such vaccines difficult in the developing world. Additionally, current vaccine development processes provide only slow responses to emerging or evolved pathogens. Nanoparticle platform technologies for vaccines can overcome these issues. Polymeric nanoparticles have shown pre-clinical success but suffer from structural heterogeneity, instability, and potential off-target immunogenicity issues. Engineered virus-like particles are emerging as a versatile platform for rapid vaccine development. They can be engineered for high stability, facile antigen conjugation in precise orientations, and high potency. Virus-like particle vaccines are poised to deliver the design features required for worldwide distribution of highly effective vaccines.