ImVacS 2012: Hepatitis C vaccine show promise

Press release posted 8/15/12 on Science Alert.com.au. Data presented on 8/13 at the Immunotherapies and Vaccine Summit (ImVacS) in Cambridge suggests a breakthrough in Hepatitis C vaccine research. Researchers took into account the highly error prone replication of HCV when creating this vaccine. By developing a vaccine that has only the most essential and highly conserved parts of the major viral surface protein, the body elicits antibodies that prevent both closely and distantly-related hepatitis C viruses from entering the cell and causing infection. Great promise involves great data however, of which we wait. 

Hep C vaccine breakthrough
 
WEDNESDAY, 15 AUGUST 2012

Hepatitis C affects around 200 million people around the world, and has a great ability to change its structure and evade the immune response, making it hard to vaccinate against. But the new vaccine candidate only contains the most essential, conserved parts of the viral surface protein, so it works on a variety of strains.

Currently undergoing formal preclinical studies, the vaccine is the result of breakthrough work done by Associate Professor Heidi Drummer with her team from the Institute’s Centre for Virology.

Hepatitis C affects around 200 million people around the world – a preventative vaccine has the potential to have a significant global health impact.

Associate Professor Drummer and her team have overcome a major hurdle in HCV vaccine research, developing a vaccine candidate that protects against a number of different HCV strains.

“Hepatitis C has a great ability to change its structure and evade the immune response. This makes vaccine development challenging,” Associate Professor Drummer said.

“Our vaccine is unique as it contains only the most essential, conserved parts of the major viral surface protein, eliciting antibodies that prevent both closely and distantly related hepatitis C viruses from entering cells, thereby preventing infection.”

Associate Professor Drummer unveiled the details about her HCV vaccine project at the prestigious Immunotherapeutics and Vaccine Summit (ImVacS) in Cambridge, Massachussets on August 13