Major breakthrough in hepatitis C vaccine development
Researchers at the Burnet Institute have solved a hepatitis C vaccine mystery which, once developed, could be the first ever preventative vaccine for the virus.
Hepatitis C affects around 200 million people around the world, so a preventative vaccine has the potential to have a significant global health impact.
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.
The team has 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 13 August.
SA Govt funds a new coastal research vessel
The 37.7-metre vessel will replace the 40-year-old MRV Ngerin, which has undertaken over...
Blood test rapidly diagnoses rare genetic diseases in children
The new blood test can rapidly detect abnormalities in up to 50% of all known rare genetic...
Govt announces $158m in funding for three new CRCs
Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic has allocated $158 million to three new Cooperative...
