Patent ID: 8183044

Claim:
A method for producing a recombinant hepatitis C virus-like particle comprising, introducing into (i) a cell carrying a subgenomic RNA replicon comprising a nucleotide sequence comprising the 5′ untranslated region, the nucleotide sequence coding for the NS3, NS4A, NS4B, NS5A, and NS5B proteins, and the 3′ untranslated region of a genome RNA derived from hepatitis C virus strain of genotype 1b which is a con1 strain or a strain derived therefrom, (ii) a vaccinia virus vector or an EF-1α promoter carrying vector expressing the Core, E1, E2, and p7 proteins derived from at least one virus strain selected from the group consisting of hepatitis C virus strains of genotype 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, and 3b that is different from the hepatitis C virus strain as defined in the (i), culturing the cell, and recovering the produced virus-like particle.