RG2-VLP: a Vaccine Designed to Broadly Protect against Anogenital and Skin Human Papillomaviruses Causing Human Cancer
Pola Olczak, Ken Matsui, Margaret Wong, Jade Alvarez, Paul F. Lambert, Neil D. Christensen, Jiafen Hu, Bettina Huber, Reinhard Kirnbauer, Joshua W. Wang, Richard B.S. Roden
Abstract
Licensed preventive HPV vaccines are composed of VLPs derived by expression of major capsid protein L1. They confer protection generally restricted to infection by the αHPVs targeted by the up-to-9-valent vaccine, and their associated anogenital cancers and genital warts, but do not target βHPV that are associated with CSCC in EV and immunocompromised patients. We describe the development of a two-antigen vaccine protective in animal models against known oncogenic αHPVs as well as diverse βHPVs by incorporation into HPV16 and HPV18 L1 VLP of 20-amino-acid conserved protective epitopes derived from minor capsid protein L2.