Nucleic acid vaccines: research tool or commercial reality

Polynucleotide immunization has captured the imagination of numerous resear chers and commercial companies around the world as a novel approach for ind ucing immunity in animals. Clearly, the 'proof-of-principle' has been demon strated both in rodents and various animal species. However, to date, no co mmercial veterinary vaccine has been developed, or to our knowledge, is in the licensing phase. The present review summarizes the types of pathogens a nd host species for which polynucleotide immunization has been tried. We ha ve tried to identify possible barriers to commercialization of this technol ogy and areas that need attention if this promising technology is ever to b ecome a reality in the commercial arena. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.