Background Novel influenza viruses continue to pose a potential pandemic threat
worldwide. In recent years, plants have been used to produce recombinant proteins,
including subunit vaccines. A subunit influenza vaccine, HAC1, based on recombinant
hemagglutinin from the 2009 pandemic A/California/04/2009 (H1N1) strain of influenza
virus, has been manufactured using a plant virus-based transient expression technology in
Nicotiana benthamiana plants and demonstrated to be immunogenic and safe in pre-clinical …

Recently, we have reported [,] on a subunit influenza vaccine candidate based on the
recombinant hemagglutinin protein from the A/Indonesia/05/2005 (H5N1) strain of influenza
virus, produced it using 'launch vector'-based transient expression technology in Nicotiana
benthamiana, and demonstrated its immunogenicity in pre-clinical studies. Here, we present
the results of a first-in-human, Phase 1 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study
designed to investigate safety, reactogenicity and immunogenicity of three escalating dose …