A new track vaccine against hepatitis C

Written by Sandeep Nehra

A European team of researchers has shown promising results in animals, a new strategy for developing a vaccine against hepatitis C virus (HCV) which is now sorely lacking.

Worldwide, 200 million people are infected with chronic hepatitis C. Major complications of this infection, such as liver failure or liver cancer, causing about 50,000 deaths per year.

There is no vaccine at present against HCV is transmitted primarily through blood (use of intravenous drugs, transfusion, organ transplantation).

As part of a European study coordinated by David Klatzmann (CNRS / Université Pierre et Marie Curie / Inserm) and supported by the National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis (ANRS), researchers have developed a technology based on the use of “virus-like particles”.

These are artificial structures that resemble viral particles (virus like particles) but have not dangerous because they contain no genetic material and do not allow the virus to multiply. These virus-like particles are already used, for example in the vaccine against HPV.

The novelty of the study published Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine is the development of virus-like particles “chimeric”, that is to say, built of fragments from two different viruses. In this case, a pseudo-particle after a mouse retrovirus covered with HCV proteins.

The researchers observed in response to vaccination with the virus-like particles, the production of neutralizing antibody of HCV in mice and monkeys.

These antibodies have been shown to induce immunity against different subtypes of HCV, while the attempts in this direction have so far failed.

The study involved 18 European partners, including the start-up Epixis.

Its results could be applicable to the development of similar strategies for vaccines against other infections such as HIV, dengue fever or respiratory syncytial virus (the most common cause of bronchiolitis in infants).