Human papillomavirus (HPV) consists of a group of 200 recognized viruses, which don’t affect most people. However, it’s common to be infected with high-risk ones and thus get genital warts or cancer.
These cancers can be prevented by prophylactic vaccination against HPV. For example, Gardasil, as the first HPV prophylactic vaccine to be approved, can protect against 4 types of HPV (6, 11, 16, and 18). And other five types (31, 33, 45, 52, and 58) can be prevented by Gardasil 9. The vaccines, intended to protect the initial HPV infection, can generate virus-neutralizing antibodies. In the United States, Gardasil has been replaced by Gardasil 9, which covers nine serotypes instead of four. The Gardasil and Gardasil 9 vaccines are all recombinant VLPs with L1-HPV epitopes. However, to offset the increased number of different co-formulated VLPs, Gardasil9 contains a larger number of total antigens than Gardasil.
Evidence has shown that licensed vaccines can defend against genital wart development and cervical precancerous, and their protection is expected to last for at least 4.5 years. However, the current challenges lie in the cost of marketed HPV vaccines in yeasts or insect expression systems.
Successful steps have been made recently in generating low-cost HPV vaccines in Escherichia coli (E. coli). Cecolin, a bivalent L1-HPV vaccine targeting HPV16 and HPV18, has been successfully expressed in E. coli and has shown high immunogenicity in pre-clinical and clinical studies. The NMPA approved the use of Cecolin in China on December 30, 2019. Moreover, Cecolin, the first Chinese-produced HPV vaccine, was prequalified by WHO in October 2021.
Fig 1. Structure of Virus-Like Particles Assembled from the L1 Protein of Human Papillomavirus 16. Website: https://www.rcsb.org/structure/1DZL.
Generic name |
Brand Name/Alternative name |
Expression System |
Originator/Manufacture |
R&D stage |
Recombinant Quadrivalent HPV Vaccine (Types 6, 11, 16, 18) |
Gardasil, V-501, Silgard, 佳达修, ガーダシル |
Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) |
Merck & Co., Inc. |
Approval |
Recombinant Nine-valent HPV vaccine (Types 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, 58) |
Gardasil9, V503, Gardasil 9, 佳达修 9, Silgard, シルガード |
Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) |
Merck & Co., Inc. |
Approval |
Recombinant Bivalent HPV vaccine |
Cecolin, 馨可宁 |
E. coli |
Innovax Biotech |
Approval |
Recombinant Bivalent HPV vaccine |
沃泽惠 |
Yeast (Pichia pastoris) |
Shanghai Zerun Biotech, Walvax Biotechnology |
Approval |
Recombinant Bivalent HPV vaccine |
MEDI-517, GSK-580299, HPV-032, HPV-046, Cervarix, 希瑞适, サーバリックス, HPV-16/18 L1 VLP/AS04 |
Baculoviruses |
GSK Plc |
Approval |
Recombinant 11-valent HPV vaccine |
Pending Update |
Yeast (Hansenula polymorpha) |
Simoon Record Beijing |
Phase III |
Recombinant HPV 16 E7 fusion protein vaccine |
VR-111 |
Pending Update |
Shanghai Zerun Biotech, Walvax Biotechnology |
Phase III |
Recombinant 9-valent HPV vaccine |
Pending Update |
Yeast (Pichia pastoris) |
Shanghai Zerun Biotech, Walvax Biotechnology |
Phase III |
Recombinant 9-valent HPV vaccine |
REC 603, REC-603 |
Yeast (Hansenula polymorpha) |
Jiangsu Recbio Biotechnology. |
Phase III |
Recombinant nine-valent HPV vaccine |
Pending Update |
E. coli |
Beijing Health Guard Biotechnology, R-PHARM |
Phase III |
Recombinant Trivalent HPV vaccine |
Pending Update |
E. coli |
Beijing Health Guard Biotechnology |
Phase III |
Recombinant Nine-valent HPV vaccine |
Pending Update |
E. coli |
Innovax Biotech |
Phase III |
Recombinant Quadrivalent HPV Vaccine (Type 6, 11, 16, 18) |
Pending Update |
Yeast (Hansenula polymorpha) |
Shanghai Bovax Biotechnology |
Phase III |
Recombinant Nine-valent HPV vaccine |
Pending Update |
Yeast (Hansenula polymorpha) |
Shanghai Bovax Biotechnology |
Phase III |
Recombinant Tetravalent HPV vaccine (6,11,16,18) |
Pending Update |
Yeast (Hansenula polymorpha) |
Chengdu Institute of Biological Products Co., Ltd |
Phase III |
Recombinant bivalent HPV vaccine |
Pending Update |
E. coli |
Innovax Biotech |
Phase II |
Recombinant 14-valent HPV vaccine |
SCT1000 |
Insect cell |
Sinocelltech Group Limited |
Phase II |
Tetravalent HPV vaccine |
Pending Update |
Yeast (Pichia pastoris) |
Shanghai Institute of Biological Products |
Phase II |
TVGV-1 |
(PE-E7-K3) fusion protein |
E. coli |
TheVax Genetics Vaccine |
Phase II |
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Mohsen MO, Bachmann MF. Virus-like particle vaccinology, from bench to bedside. Cell Mol Immunol. 2022 Sep;19(9):993-1011. doi: 10.1038/s41423-022-00897-8.