Candidate for a novel HCV-Vaccine

Reference Number TO 01-00303

The Challenge

The WHO estimates that about 200 Mio. people, 3% of the world’s population, are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and 3 to 4 Mio. persons are newly infected each year. 85% of those infected develop persistent infection and are at risk of serious complications such as liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. HCV is responsible for over 50% of all liver cancer cases. Therapeutic options combine interferon and Ribavirin treatment with still not convincing long-lasting complete remission of HCV infection.

Hepatitis C will lead to a substantial health and economic burden over the next 10 to 20 years. The need for liver transplants will increase 5 fold in the next 10 years. Direct medical expenditures for HCV within the European Union alone will be over €10 billion from the year 2010 through 2019 without specific effort to limit this impact.

Although preliminary vaccine research in primates appears promising, to date no vaccines exist for preventing HCV in humans.

Technology

The invention relates to recombinant MVA which is capable of expressing structural HCV structural antigens, functional parts or epitopes thereof. Using this recombinant virus a vaccine for therapy and prophylaxis of HCV infections and diseases can be developed. Preclinical testing in animal models (mice and primates) already showed promising results.

Commerical Benefit and Opportunity

Neither effective preventive prophylaxis nor efficient working therapies for a great amount of HCV patients exist. An HCV-vaccine for prophylactic and therapeutic purposes would cover a major share of the HCV-market of approximately 1.5 BN€ per year.

The technology is available for (non)-exclusive licensing. Parties interested in collaborative research and development are highly welcomed.

Development Status

Vaccination studies in chimpanzees with MVA/C-E1-E2 polyprotein and MVA-NS3, respectively, showed good humoral and cellular immune response, the viral burden could be significantly decreased. Vaccination experiments in mice revealed the DNA prime and MVA boost regimen obtaining best results.

Patent Situation

Patents have been granted in CN, DE, EP, HK, JP and RU, patent applications are pending in PH and US.

Relevant Publication

Rollier et al. (2007), Hepatology 45, 602-613