Robert L. Garcea MD

Bob L. Garcea is a Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States. Bob Garcea has been a transformative force in vaccine development since the 1980s. By studying viral structures, he has discovered new ways to simplify vaccines that drastically reduce their cost and increase their reach. His discovery of virus-like particles (VLPs) led to next-generation vaccines that are more affordable and safer than traditional live-attenuated or heat-killed virus vaccines, and have since become the new gold standard in vaccine design.

Now, Bob promises to revolutionize vaccines once again with his discovery of viral capsomeres. “You don’t need the whole VLP to elicit an immune response,” says Bob. “Building blocks of the viral shell, termed capsomeres, are just as good at sensitizing the immune system against HPV.” These capsomeres are so simple they can be churned out en masse by bacteria, whereas VLPs require more complex biological production systems that are four times as costly. In addition, complex VLP vaccines are unstable, requiring liquid suspension and refrigeration for preservation. Meanwhile, simple capsomeres are much more stable, lending themselves to a new heat-tolerant formulation.

While Bob had no experience with vaccine formulations himself, he knew someone in a neighboring lab who did. “Our BioFrontiers lab happened to be next to chemical engineers. They come at problems in a very different way than we do. For them, it’s about practicality,” says Bob. “In particular, Ted Randolph had developed a technique for thermo-stabilizing proteins in powder form.”