The Journey to RSV Vaccines — Heralding an Era of Structure-Based Design

This article traces the decades-long evolution of vaccine development for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), highlighting key discoveries from the 1960s vaccine failure to recent breakthroughs in structure-based design. It details the role of atomic-level modeling in stabilizing the RSV fusion glycoprotein (F) in its prefusion form, uncovering epitopes responsible for high neutralizing activity. The author discusses technical advances including crystallization constraints, monoclonal antibody screening, and protein engineering that enabled effective immunogen design. The piece also draws parallels with rapid Covid-19 vaccine development, emphasizing how RSV research laid the blueprint for pandemic response.

This article traces the decades-long evolution of vaccine development for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), highlighting key discoveries from the 1960s vaccine failure to recent breakthroughs in structure-based design. It details the role of atomic-level modeling in stabilizing the RSV fusion glycoprotein (F) in its prefusion form, uncovering epitopes responsible for high neutralizing activity. The author discusses technical advances including crystallization constraints, monoclonal antibody screening, and protein engineering that enabled effective immunogen design. The piece also draws parallels with rapid Covid-19 vaccine development, emphasizing how RSV research laid the blueprint for pandemic response.