Next generation vaccines to prevent Hepatitis C

• Develop E2 vaccine candidates that focus the immune response on conserved neutralizing antibody epitopes
• Explore the potential for mRNA vaccine candidates to generate immunity to Hepatitis C in preclinical models. 
• Progress our lead HCV vaccine candidate into Phase 1 clinical studies to determine safety and immunogenicity in humans.

2022-2024

We use a combination of structural biology, protein engineering and structure function analysis to design new E2 vaccine candidates. Our candidates are tested in preclinical studies to understand if we are generating the desired immune response and we can prevent infection with diverse strains of hepatitis C. We use systems immunology to identify potential correlates of protection of our vaccine candidates from our preclinical studies. Our lead candidate will be used in a Phase I study in humans to determine safety and if we are generating appropriate immune responses in humans prior to initiating a phase 2 efficacy study.

Hepatitis C virus chronically infects more than 50 million people globally and causes approximately 500,000 deaths each year. To address the hepatitis C pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) introduced the following targets for 2030: an 80% reduction in new infections. Despite significant progress being made in reducing the number of people living with hepatitis C through the use of direct acting antivirals, it is clear that only a small fraction of countries are on track to reach the WHO elimination targets by 2030. Direct acting antivirals (DAAs) can cure HCV infection in over 95% of people receiving them.

However, DAAs alone are unlikely to achieve HCV elimination because:

• DAAs are expensive relative to GDP in most countries, restricting their availability, and placing a major impost on healthcare payers.
• A large number of people have undiagnosed HCV. 3. Improper use of DAAs may cause drug resistance due to HCV’s high mutation rate and high prevalence of pre-existing drug mutations. 4. Even after viral clearance, people remain at risk of contracting HCV if re-exposed, with reinfection rates of 8-12/100 person years.

As a result, a prophylactic vaccine to prevent primary infection and reinfection is urgently needed. A vaccine that prevents infection used along side DAAs will accelerate elimination of HCV and will benefit the community by preventing morbidity and mortality associated with hepatitis C.