What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Peptides?

Advantages of defined viral antigens or peptides include:

1. Production and quality control is simpler.

2. No nucleic acids or other viral or external proteins, therefore less toxic.

3. Safer in cases where viruses are oncogenic or establish a persistent infection.

4. Feasible even if virus cannot be cultivated.

Disadvantages

1. May be less immunogenic than conventional inactivated whole-virus vaccines.

2. Requires adjuvant.

3. Requires primary course of injections followed by booster doses.

4. With out T cell epitopes they fail to elicit cell mediated immunity (CMI).