Day 1 – 6th October 2026
08.30 Onwards
Registration, Coffee and Poster Set-Up
SESSION 1:
PLENARY OPENING SESSION
Moderator: Martin Bachmann
(University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland)
09.50-10.00
Welcome to Bern & Opening Remarks
10.00-10.30
‘Polio VLP vaccine: The WHO perspective’
Martin Eisenhawer
(World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland)
10.30-11.00
‘From plants to planets: Plant virus therapeutics for One Health’
Nicole F. Steinmetz
(Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering, University of California, San Diego, California, USA)
11.00-11.30
Coffee Break and Posters
SESSION 2:
Moderator: Bryce Chackerian
(University of New Mexico School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA)
11.30-12.00
‘Development and characterisation of next generation virus-like particle vaccines for polio’
Nicola J. Stonehouse
(University of Leeds, Leeds, UK)
12.00-12.30
‘Using immunologically optimized VLP-based vaccine against peanut allergy’
Martin Bachmann
(University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland)
12.30-13.00
‘Getting to the Core: Modular hepatitis B virus‑like particles for antigen display’
Emma L. Wroblewski, Khalid Alluhaybi, Jehad Alzahrani, David J. Rowlands and Nicola J. Stonehouse
(University of Leeds, Leeds, UK)
13.00-14.00
Lunch and Posters
SESSION 3:
Moderator: Kathryn Frietze
(University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA)
14.00-14.30
‘The 4Ws of VLP-based cancer immunotherapy: Current strategies and emerging methodologies for clinical translation’
Mona Mohsen
(University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland)
14.30-14.50
‘Biopharmed Mpox VLP candidate vaccines validated in a mice model’
Martha M. O’Kennedy1, Rudranil Hazra2, Tsepo Tsekoa1, Siyabulela F.J. Magugu2, Lusisizwe Kwezi1, Ilse du Preez1, Herine van Emmenis1, Maryam Karaan2, Nicola Douglass, Wendy A. Burgers2 and Roanne S. Keeton2
(1 Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Advanced Chemicals and Life Sciences, Pretoria, South Africa; 2 Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa)
14.50-15.10
‘Nanobody-functionalized plant virus nanoparticles for targeted cancer immunotherapy and vaccine development’
E. Lozano-Sanchez1, M.A. Moreno-Gonzalez2, F. Merwaiss1, N.F. Steinmetz2 and J.A. Daros1
(1 Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (CSIC-Universitat Politècnica de Valencia), Valencia, Spain; 2 Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA)
15.10-15.30
‘NanoSFERIC™: A novel flexible nanoparticle vaccine platform for infectious disease and cancer’
Urban Bezeljak1,2, Alexander Jerman1, Tina Kobal2, Martina Lokar Kosmač2 and Matjaž Peterka1,2
(1Sferogen d.o.o., Ajdovščina, Slovenia; 2 COBIK, Ajdovščina, Slovenia)
15.30-16.00
Tea Break and Posters
SESSION 4:
Moderator: Nicola J. Stonehouse
(University of Leeds, Leeds, UK)
16.00-16.30
‘A VLP-based vaccine targeting myostatin enhances muscle mass and reduces fat accumulation’
Bryce Chackerian, Quiteria Jacquez, Julianne Peabody, Eduardo Hernandez Acosta, Bryce Chackerian and S. Joseph Endicott
(University of New Mexico School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA)
16.30-17.00
‘Elicitation of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) targeting the HIV envelope glycoprotein (Env) apex using high-avidity trimer-liposome array in nonhuman primates’
Richard Wyatt and Javier Guenaga
(Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA)
Day 2 – 7th October 2026
SESSION 5:
Moderator: Mona Mohsen
(University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland)
09.00-09.30
‘Using a plant virus capsid to deliver RNA to mammalian cells’
George Lomonossoff*1, Hadrien Peyret1,2, Sachin Shah1, Yulia Meshcheriakova1, Lesley Mitchenall1, Heather Martin3 and Darren Tomlinson3
(1 Department of Biochemistry and Metabolism, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, UK; 2 Present address: University of Nottingham, School of Biosciences, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough, UK; 3 Astbury Centre, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK)
09.30-10.00
‘Plant produced Nipah VLP vaccine candidate for pandemic preparedness’
Martha M. O’Kennedy1, Celia Abolnik2, Tanja Smith1, Lusisizwe Kwezi1, Ilse du Preez1, Tsepo Tsekoa1, Shiristi Ghimire3 and Laura C. Miller3
(1 Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Advanced Chemicals and Life Sciences, Pretoria, South Africa; 2 Department of Production Animal Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, South Africa; 3 Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhatten, Kansas, USA)
10.00-10.30
Coffee Break and Posters
SESSION 6:
Moderator: Nicole F. Steinmetz
(University of California, San Diego, California, USA)
10.30-11.00
‘A VLP-based vaccine against IgE for the treatment of allergy’
Paul Engeroff1,2, Zahra Gharailoo1,2, Monique Vogel1,2 and Martin Bachmann1,2
(1 Department of BioMedical Research (DBMR), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; 2 Department for Rheumatology and Immunology, University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland)
11.00-11.30
‘Application of nanoparticle delivery formulations of combination adjuvants to enhance the immunogenicity of intranasally delivered vaccines for respiratory viruses’
Ellen Wasan
(College of Pharmacy and Nutrition, University of Saskatachewan, Saskatoon, Saskatachewan, Canada)
11.30-12.00
‘Targeting systemic amyloidosis through vaccination’
Anne-Cathrine Vogt
(University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland)
12.00-12.20
‘Production of antigenically stable enterovirus A71 VLPs in Pichia pastoris: A future yeast‑based vaccine candidate’
Nawanit Tanapatkunnathorn, Francesca Goldfinch, Natalie J. Kingston, David J. Rowlands and Nicola J. Stonehouse
(School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Astbury Centre for Structural and Molecular Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom)
12.20-12.40
‘A modular LEGO vaccine platform for rapid VLP design: Development, optimization, and application to Hepatitis B core antigen (HBc-VLP) systems’
Amir Zaki Abdullah Zubir1,2, Tuck Seng Wong1,2 and Kang Lan Tee1,2
(1 Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom; 2 UK-South East Asia Vaccine Manufacturing Research Hub, United Kingdom)
12.40-13.00
‘AI-assisted design of virus-like particles via epitope-guided antigen display and linker-mediated distance optimization’
Boran Li, Ruben Garnhartner, Anna Nehoda, Lan Yang, Andris Zeltins, Anne-Cathrine Sarah Vogt, Mona Omar Mahmoud Mohsen and Martin Bachmann
(University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland)
13.00-14.00
Lunch and Posters
SESSION 7:
Moderator: Ebenezer Tumban
(Texas Tech University, Amarillo, Texas, USA)
14.00-14.30
‘VLP peanut demonstrated benign safety profile and tolerogenic clinical proof of concept in Phase I/IIA PROTECT clinical trial’
W. Shreffler1, R.C. Oriel2, A.F. Santos3, C. Vogelberg4, E.H. Kim5, M. Moss6, T. Casale7, T. Pongdee8, J. H. Wedner9, H. Cassell10, S. Hong11, C. Zuiani12, S. Starchenka12, D. Wilkie12, S. Eser13, E. McArdle12, O. Armfield12, A. Stead12, M.H. Shamji14, J.A. Layhadi14, R.G. Hamilton15, J. Schroeder15, L. Dubuske16, M.F. Kramer12,13, S. Hewings12, F. Sellwood12, M.A. Skinner12 and P.J. De°Kam12
(1 Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA; 2 Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Kravis Children’s Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, Serena and John Liew Division of Allergy and Immunology, Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe Food Allergy Institute, New York, USA; 3 Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King’s College London, London, UK; 4 Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany; 5 University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, USA; 6 University of Wisconsin, Madison Hospital, Wisconsin, USA; 7 University of South Florida Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology Clinical Research Unit, Florida, USA; 8 Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA; 9 Washington University School of Medicine, Missouri, USA; 10 University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, Arizona, USA; 11 Cleveland Clinic, Strongsville, Ohio, USA; 12 Allergy Therapeutics Plc, Worthing, UK; 13 Bencard Allergie GmbH, Munich, Germany; 14 Immunomodulation and Tolerance Group, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK; 15 The Johns Hopkins Dermatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology Reference Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA)
14.30-15.00
‘Identification of protective chlamydia vaccine candidates utilizing a bacteriophage virus-like particle affinity selection platform and human patient serum’
Amanda Collar1, Susan Core1, Leslie Huggins1, Zoe E.R. Wilton and Kathryn Frietze1,2
(1 Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA; 2 Clinical and Translational Science Center, University of New Mexico Health Sciences, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA)
15.00-15.30
‘Development of a flexible novel vaccine platform based on cell permeable chimeric HBVcapsids for oral and mucosal vaccination’
Jan Raupach1, Younes Housria1, Sascha Hein2, Tobias Zahn1 and Eberhard Hildt3
(¹ Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Research Group, Langen, Germany ; ² Paul-Ehrlich Instiut, Division of Allergology, Langen Germany; ³ Hasso-Plattner-Institute, Digital Global Public Health, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany)
15.30-16.00
Tea and Posters
SESSION 8:
Moderator: Anne-Cathrine Vogt
(University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland)
16.00-16.30
‘Adsorption sequence–dependent antigen distribution on adjuvants modulates epitope accessibility and immune responses in bivalent vaccines’
Wenqi Yang1,2,3, Qingqing Zhao1,2,3, Changying Xue4,5 and Bingbing Sun1,2,3 *
(1 State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China; 2 School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China; 3 Frontiers Science Center for Smart Materials Oriented Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China; 4 School of Bioengineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China; 5 MOE Key Laboratory of Bio-Intelligent Manufacturing, School of Bioengineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China)
16.30-17.00
‘VLP approach for mRNA vaccines’
I. Legastelois1, C. Bernardin-Souibgui1, J. Pontvianne1, N. Al-Turihi1, L. Liu2, A. Kume2 and A. Demske3
(1mRNA CoE, Research& Biomarkers, RNA Sciences, Sanofi, Marcy l’étoile, France; 2mRNA CoE, Research & Biomarkers, Delivery and formulation, Sanofi, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA; 3mRNA CoE, Research & Biomarkers, Biomarkers, Sanofi, Orlando, Florida, USA)
17.00-17.30
‘Engineering-driven structural divergence in Woodchuck Hepatitis B core VLPs modulates immunogenicity’
Jaanaky Vigneswaran1, Anne Nguyen1, Darren Liu1, Michael Johnson1, Jake Baum1 and Daniel Luque1,2
(1 School of Biomedical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; 2 Electron Microscopy Unit, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia)
Day 3 – 8th October 2026
SESSION 9:
Moderator: Bingbing Sun
(Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China)
08.30-09.00
‘Extended intranasal vaccination significantly increases serum and mucosal immune responses to a hemagglutinin-bearing, plant-made virus-like particle influenza vaccine’
Jason Gravett1,2, Gigi Cui1,2, Hilary Hendin2, Sonia Trepanier3, Marc-André D’Aoust3 and Brian J. Ward2,3
(1 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; 2 Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center, Glen Site, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; 3 Aramis Biotechnologies Inc, Quebec, Canada)
09.00-09.30
‘Genetic modification of the coat proteins of bacteriophage Qβ, PP7, AP205, and MS2 with novel Spytag003 for antigen conjugation’
Hong Liu, Milad Kheirvari and Ebenezer Tumban
(Graduate Program in One Health Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Texas Tech University, Amarillo, Texas, USA)
09.30-10.00
‘Dual-stage filtration for VLP purification – towards standardized, scalable, and automated VLP manufacturing’
Jürgen Hubbuch and Annabelle Dietrich
(Institute of Process Engineering in Life Sciences – Section IV: Biomolecular Separation Engineering, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany)
10.00-10.30
‘EMV-based VLP vaccine against avian influenza H5N1: A scalable approach to zoonotic threat mitigation’
Ruben Garnhartner1,2, Boran Li1,2,3, Alessandro Pardini1,2,3,Mahsa Asgari1,2, Mona Mohsen1,2 and Martin Bachmann1,2,4
(University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland)
10.30-10.50
‘Assays for respiratory vaccines assessment and correlates of protection’
Maria A. Stincarelli, Emanuele Montomoli and Alessandro Manenti
(VisMederi Srl, Siena, Italy/University of Siena, Siena, Italy)
10.50-11.30
Coffee and Posters Breakdown
SESSION 10:
Moderator: Martin Bachmann
(University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland)
11.30-12.00
‘Strategies to enhance the efficacy of epitope targeted vaccines for malaria’
Alex Francian, Yogesh Nepal and Bryce Chackerian
(University of New Mexico School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA)
12.00-12.25
‘Preclinical potential of γδ T cells in novel virus-like particle vaccines for triple- negative breast cancer’
Arnau Solé Casaramona, Mona Mohsen and Martin Bachmann
(University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland)
12.25-12.50
‘Modular click-on phage nanoplatform for receptor-targeted, self-adjuvanting subunit vaccines’
Klemen Gnidovec1, Liza Ulčakar2,3, Krištof Bozovičar1, Rok Romih4, Ajasja Ljubetič2 and Tomaž Bratkovič1,*
(1 University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 2 National Institute of Chemistry, Department of Synthetic Biology and Immunology, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 3 University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Medicine, Interdisciplinary Doctoral Study of Biomedicine, Ljubljana, Slovenia; 4 University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Cell Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia)
12.50-13.00
VLPNPV 2026 Closing Remarks & Departure
Martin Bachmann
(University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland)
POSTERS
Poster 101
‘Immunogenicity and efficacy of bacteriophage virus-like particle (VLP) against Chlamydia secreted proteins’
Zoe Wilton1, Susan Core1, Leslie Huggins1 and Kathryn Frietze1,2
(1Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA; 2Clinical and Translational Science Center, University of New Mexico Health Sciences, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA)
Poster 102
‘The development of turnip crinkle virus particles with modified architectures as a nanoparticle delivery system’
Sachin Shah, Yulia Meshcheriakova, Lesley Mitchenall, Keith Saunders, Saima Rehman, Sandra Eltschker and George Lomonossoff
(Department of Biochemistry and Metabolism, John Innes Centre, Norwich, United Kingdom)
Poster 103
‘A multi-epitope eggplant mosaic virus-like particle vaccine displaying three amyloid-ß determinants for active immunotherapy of Alzheimer’s Disease’
Anish Ghimire1,2, Xiaerwanamu Alimujiang1,2, Anne-Cathrine Vogt1,2, Mona Mohsen1,2 and Martin Bachmann1,2
(1Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; 2Department for BioMedical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland)*
Poster 104
‘Engineering plant virus-derived nanovaccines against periodontitis: design and immunological evaluation of PPAD-based vaccine candidates’
Alise Heige Bajāra, Ieva Kalnciema, Dace Skrastiņa, Anete Ogriņa-Komarova, Juris Jansons, Terēza Pečorina, Andris Zeltiņš and Ina Baļķe
(National Institute of Research and Innovation, Riga, Latvia)
Poster 105
‘Development and Evaluation of VLP-Based Vaccine Targeting FABP4 for the Treatment of Obesity-Associated Metabolic Disorders’
Ilva Lieknina
(National Institute of Research and Innovation (NIRI), Riga, Latvia)
Poster 106
‘Follicular antigen retention dynamics following virus-like particle Immunization’
María Miró Navarro
(Inselspital, Bern University, Bern, Switzerland)
Poster 107
‘Comparative evaluation of plant-derived virus-like particles as intratumoral immunotherapy agents’
Anete Ogrina-Komarova 1, Zane Kalnina 1, Rebeka Racina 1, Vilija Zeltina 1, Ramona Petrovska1, Ina Balke 1, Patricija Zaremba2, Krista Resne 1, Juris Jansons 1 and Andris Zeltins 1*
(1 National Institute of Research and Innovation (NIRI), Riga, Latvia; 2 Faculty of Medicine, Riga Stradins University, Dzirciema 16, Riga, Latvia)
Poster 108
‘Tagged recombinant baculoviruses for efficient manufacturing of virus-like particle’
Martina Lokar Kosmač, Urban Bezeljak, Matjaž Peterka and Alexander Jerman
(Sferogen d.o.o., Ajdovščina, Slovenia; COBIK, Ajdovščina, Slovenia)
This final programme is correct at the time of publication. However the organizers reserve the right to make any alterations that may be required in the interests and integrity of the final conference programme.