Chapter 10 - Virus-like particle-based vaccines against SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

The urgent need to develop vaccines against COVID-19 led to the exploration of several vaccine types and production platforms. The use of virus-like particles (VLPs) is a promising technology for vaccine design given their high stability, immunogenicity, diversity, and production versatility. Although the main COVID-19 immunization approaches that resulted in approved vaccines thus far are based on viral vectors and RNA, the use of VLPs offers substantial advantages over such formulations and will positively impact this field with no doubt. In this chapter, the impact of VLPs in vaccinology and the ongoing efforts to develop VLP-based vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2 is described. Advanced candidates are produced in insect, mammallian, and plant cells, with a couple of candidates under clinical evaluation. The critical challenges for this field are identified and the relevance of the vaccine candidate produced in plant cells is highlighted.