cVLP-IMV

cVLP-IMV is a series of epitope-selective malaria vaccine candidates (cVLP-IMV1 to cVLP-IMV8) designed to elicit protective antibodies against the Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein (CSP). Developed by researchers at the University of Copenhagen, Statens Serum Institut, Johns Hopkins University, and other collaborating institutions, these immunogens target the major and minor repeats and the junctional peptide region of CSP. To enhance immunogenicity, the purified recombinant immunogens (IMV1-8) are conjugated to the capsid virus-like particle (cVLP) AP205 using a split-protein conjugation system, creating stable isopeptide-bound antigen-cVLP complexes. In preclinical mouse models, constructs such as cVLP-IMV2 (presenting major repeats) and cVLP-IMV8 (presenting minor repeats) demonstrated significant infection-blocking efficacy comparable to the RTS,S benchmark.