A novel virus-like particle based mammalian expression system targeted at vaccine development against envelope viruses.

The Native Antigen Company (NAC) proposes to examine the technical feasibility of developing a novel mammalian cell expression system which would overcome the current barriers to producing suitable antigens from enveloped viruses for use as vaccine candidates. Our innovative approach would centre on the provision of pure Virus-Like Particles (VLPs) containing the antigen of interest, in high concentration, embedded natively in the lipid membrane. As a target for the feasibility project NAC will focus on a human CMV antigen. This infection represents one of the highest healthcare burdens resulting from a lack of a suitable vaccine.