Expression of FMD Virus Like Particles (VLPs) Using Baculovirus System

Currently Inactivated serotype specific FMD vaccine is used worldwide for the control of FMD virus. This requires cost intensive high-containment facility, which however poses the risk of virus escape from such facility. Over last few years, research has been ongoing to produce non-infectious, safer vaccine for FMD. To address these concerns, research is ongoing worldwide to develop recombinant vaccines for FMD that are safe to produce, yet effective at eliciting protective immunity in animals. In this context, expression from the Baculovirus system offers the potential for large-scale production of non-infectious FMDV capsids. Virus-like Particles (VLPs), a result of recombinant DNA technology, are formed by viral structural proteins that can inherently self-assemble and mimic the morphology of the virus, without being infective or replicating.