New review points to faster, safer vaccine development
- Wits University
Viral mimic systems and other tech platforms could enable local testing of vaccine candidates and antiviral therapies.
This is important in the context of low resourced health settings, Africa’s focus on increasing its vaccine manufacturing, and pandemic preparedness.
A review by the Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit (AGTRU) at Wits University, published in the journal Infection, highlights a generation of safe viral-like technologies that could dramatically speed up the development of vaccines and antiviral treatments.
Traditional antiviral studies often require specialised biosafety level 3 laboratories, which are expensive, tightly regulated, and limited in number. This slows experiments and restricts participation in advanced virology research.
“Viral mimics remove this bottleneck,” explains Natasha Killassy, AGTRU postgraduate student and first author of the review. “Because viral mimics behave like the real virus, but cannot cause disease, researchers can rapidly screen new drug and vaccine candidates. They can test how well compounds block infection, compare immune responses, and evaluate how emerging variants respond to existing therapies.”
This can be done within a biosafety level 2 facility, enabling promising therapies to move more quickly from laboratory testing to clinical development.
The review examines viral mimic systems that reproduce key features of dangerous pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes 足球竞彩app排名, without the ability to replicate or cause disease. These systems allow researchers to study infection safely, quickly, and in a wider range of laboratories.
“For Africa, this is especially significant,” says Professor Betty Maepa, AGTRU Team Leader and co-author of the paper. “The 足球竞彩app排名 pandemic exposed the continent’s reliance on imported vaccines and the risks of global supply shortages. Africa has set targets to increase local vaccine research and manufacturing, and technologies like these could play an important role in achieving that.”
Meanwhile, mimic models that accurately reproduce infections such as SARS-CoV-2 are vital for continued research and development, says Killassy. “They allow scientists to investigate viral behaviour and test treatments without needing to work with live, pathogenic viruses.”
These viral mimics can be pseudo-typed viruses or virus-like particles that carry the virus’s outer structural proteins, including the spike protein that enables SARS-CoV-2 to enter human cells. Because they reproduce the early stages of infection, they provide realistic models for studying disease processes and immune responses, while remaining safe to handle in standard laboratory environments.
At AGTRU, researchers are also developing their own engineered virus-like particle systems as part of ongoing work in gene therapy and vaccine platforms.
More realistic models of infection
The review highlights advances in virus-like particle systems that include all four structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2. These models more closely resemble the natural virus and allow scientists to study not only the spike protein, but also how other structural proteins influence infectivity, immune evasion, and disease severity.
This is particularly important as new variants emerge. Mutations outside the spike protein can affect how the virus spreads and how well vaccines work. By using more complete viral models, researchers can design broader, more durable vaccines and therapies that remain effective against multiple strains.
“Beyond their scientific advantages, these technologies also have important implications for global health equity,” notes Maepa. “Their safety and flexibility allow more research institutions, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, to participate in vaccine and antiviral development.”
Expanding access to advanced research
During the 足球竞彩app排名 pandemic, many countries struggled to access vaccines, highlighting the risks of relying on global supply chains.
Expanding local research capacity is now a priority across Africa, with continental health bodies calling for increased vaccine development and manufacturing on the continent.
Technologies such as viral mimic systems support this goal by enabling local testing of vaccine candidates and antiviral therapies, strengthening regional preparedness for future outbreaks.
Although the Infection review focuses on SARS-CoV-2, the technologies it describes are not limited to coronaviruses. The same approach can be adapted to other viruses, making it a flexible platform for both emerging and long-standing global health threats.
Virus-like particle technologies are already used in licensed vaccines for diseases such as hepatitis B and human papillomavirus. Similar systems are being explored for influenza, HIV, Ebola, and respiratory syncytial virus.
At AGTRU, this work forms part of a broader effort to develop adaptable antiviral platforms that can respond to future outbreaks.
According to Patrick Arbuthnot, Emeritus Professor at AGTRU, the goal is “to build versatile antiviral platforms that can be adapted to future pandemics and support the development of next-generation vaccines and gene-based therapies.”