Human metapneumovirus (hMPV), a negative, single-stranded RNA virus, accounts for approximately 5-15% of infant respiratory tract infections and poses a severe risk of disease and hospitalization in both the elderly and the immunocompromised. Investigators at the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) have generated an hMPV fusion glycoprotein (“F protein”) stabilized in a prefusion conformation.

Stabilizing this prefusion conformation of the F protein reveals an immunodominant site which makes it an ideal vaccine immunogen. The prefusion stabilized F protein immunogen can be delivered as either an isolated homotrimer or trimers displayed on a nanoparticle. These immunogens elicit broad and potent hMPV-neutralizing antibodies.

This technology is available for licensing for commercial development in accordance with 35 U.S.C. § 209 and 37 CFR Part 404.