Introduction: Although viruses have generally been considered as pathogens ever since their discovery, recent research has revealed that they might assume a more important role in the survival and evolution of their hosts. Besides this, they also hold the potential as therapies for the treatment of infections, cancers, and other diseases, with several of them already commercially available on the market. In this review, we will focus on the use of different viruses for treating diseases.Areas covered: This is a comprehensive review of the application of viruses or virus-based strategies (including bacteriophages, oncolytic viruses, viral vector-based delivery, virus-like particles, and virosomes) for therapeutic purposes. The article provides an overview of the status quo of currently available virus-based therapeutics.Expert Opinion: The efficacy of virus-based therapies has been emphasized repeatedly in the clinical trials for virotherapy, gene delivery, and virus-like particles (VLPs), with multiple therapeutics approved and marketed. Compared with chemical and biological drugs, viruses represent a unique 'research niche.' As more virus-based therapeutics are moving down the pipeline, we shall expect to see a more diversified collection of related products being recognized and applied in clinical settings in the future.
Keywords: Phage therapy; viral vectors; virosomes; virotherapy; virus-like particles (VLPs).
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