Scientific Focus

Viral vector vaccines still represent most excellent inducers of cell-mediated and humoral immune responses. Therefore, intensive investigations are performed to improve the use of several virus families as safe and efficient viral vectors, not only against diverse infectious diseases but also against tumours. During the last decade we developed a novel vector virus platform using Orf virus (ORFV), a member of the genus Parapoxvirus of Poxviridae.  The attractiveness of an ORFV vector rely on the following advantages: (i) A very restricted host range, (ii) No evidence for viral systemic spread, (iii) The fast induction of humoral and cellular immune responses, especially also in non-permissive hosts that do not support vector replication, (iv) A short-term vector-specific immunity allowing multiple re-immunizations, and (v) the possibility to generate recombinants by targeted deletion of ORFV virulence genes on the basis of the highly attenuated, apathogenic ORFV strain D1701-V.