Translation of virus like particle foot-and-mouth disease vaccine research to commercial development

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious, acute viral disease of cloven-hoofed, domesticated and wild animals. There are many variants of FMD which cause a global economic impact, estimated at between US$ 6.5 and 21 billion per year. Current vaccines are made of inactivated viruses which are fragile structures that can limit production and result in poor immunity after vaccination. Large quantities of live FMD virus are grown during production in very expensive high containment facilities. Consequently, there is a huge undersupply of vaccine globally, especially in Africa. We have produced virus like particles (VLP) copies of the FMD virus in insect cells, requiring less expensive facilities. We have shown for three serotypes that vaccinating cattle with VLP, with enhanced physical stability, can protect from FMD infection. New rapid methods will be developed to design, express and test physically stabilised VLPs for a wide range of strains, to ensure we can produce vaccines for the current needs and newly emerging viruses. This project will allow optimisation of commercial production methods for VLPs to make the vaccines affordable and available for livestock farmers in the poorest regions of the world.