Virus-Like Particles derived from the subfamilies, Parahepevirinae, which infect trout and salmon, and the Orthohepevirinae, which infect mammals and birds, particularly those of the species Paslahepevirus balayani, which can cause acute hepatitis in humans and several mammalian species, and chronic conditions in immunocompromised patients are also disclosed. Major aspects of the invention relate to compositions of Virus-Like Particles comprising viral capsid proteins capable of assembly in cultured cells that may be purified, disassembled, and reassembled in the presence of other molecules suitable for use as therapeutic drug products to facilitate the targeting and delivery of cargo molecules to specific cells or tissues, or as antigenic agents designed to stimulate responses to heterologous epitopes exposed on the surfaces of Virus-Like Particles. Preferred aspects relate to functional capsids comprising polypeptide sequences comprising one or more amino acid substitutions, insertions, or deletions of amino acid encoded by a consensus of ORF2 genes, wherein said variant polypeptides are functionally-similar or have enhanced properties compared to capsid polypeptides encoded by naturally-occurring viruses obtained from clinical samples or prototype Hepatitis E Viruses (HEV). Other aspects include the design and assembly of modified vectors to facilitate the basic and applied studies leading to the development and commercialization of novel drug products, and as tools advancing the interests of institutions involved in animal and human healthcare.