Hepatitis C vaccine trial shows promise

A new hepatitis C vaccine has shown "promising results" in the first clinical trial in humans, scientists from Oxford University said.

Results from the phase 1 trial showed the vaccine generated an immune response similar to that seen in people who are naturally able to clear a hepatitis C virus infection.

More than 200,000 people in the UK are estimated to have a chronic hepatitis C infection, according to the UK Health Protection Agency, and are at risk of serious liver damage such as cirrhosis or liver cancer.

Many people are unaware they have the blood-borne virus, as they can be without symptoms for years. The disease is now the main reason for liver transplants in the West.

Designing a vaccine against hepatitis C has proved to be difficult in the past, as the external surface of the virus is constantly changing.

But the Oxford researchers, along with others from an Italian biotech company and the University of Birmingham, designed a vaccine to target the internal - and stable - parts of the hepatitis C virus.

"The outside shell of the hepatitis C virus is very variable but the inside of the virus is much more stable. That’s where the engine of the virus is, where we may be able to successfully target many of the crucial pieces of machinery," said Professor Paul Klenerman, who led the study.

The scientists used a modified cold virus to carry genetic material from the hepatitis C virus, which was then used to vaccinate 41 healthy adult volunteers.

The vaccine triggered a strong T-cell response against the virus that lasted for at least a year, the length of the study. It also appeared to be safe, without any significant side-effects, the researchers said.

And the immune response was of a similar type and size to that seen in people who are able to naturally clear the virus from their bodies after an infection.

The researchers are now carrying out a trial to find out if the vaccine can be used to help treat people who are already infected with hepatitis C as well as continuing work on improving the immune response.

The study findings are published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

This article was published on Thu 5 January 2012