Protein-based subunit vaccines

Commonly used protein-based subunit vaccines are the following:

• Acellular pertusis (aP) vaccines contain inactivated pertussis toxin (protein) and may contain one or more other bacterial components. The pertusis toxin is detoxified either by treatment with a chemical or by using molecular genetic techniques
• Hepatitis B vaccines are composed of the hepatitis B virus virus surface antigen (HBsAg), a protein produced by hepatitis B virus. Earlier vaccine products were produced using purified plasma of infected individuals. This production method has been replaced by recombinant technology that can produce HBsAg without requiring human plasma increasing the safety of the vaccine by excluding the risk from potential contamination of human plasma.