Hepatitis C virus vaccine
Intercell's therapeutic vaccine for treatment of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) combines five synthetic T-cell-stimulating peptides and our first-generation poly-arginine adjuvant (IC30).
In February 2008, data from Phase II clinical trial were announced. The study comprised about 50 treatment-naïve Hepatitis C genotype-1 patients. The analysis showed a statistically significant viral load reduction (0.2 log) and a good safety profile up to 2 weeks after the last vaccination. Long-term follow up results announced in September 2008 confirmed the data, showing that the load reduction was significantly more pronounced at 6 months after the final vaccination (0.46 log) than at the end of treatment. Notably, the virus decline (0.6 log) at the 6 months time point was most pronounced in patients with high initial viral load (> 2 million copies/ml).
The future development of the vaccine will take advantage of an enlarged antigen portfolio and include our second generation IC31® adjuvant.
Intercell’s vaccine candidate for Hepatitis C was awarded in the category of “Best New Therapeutic Vaccine” at “The Vaccine Industry Excellence Award” held in Washington in April 2008.
About Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is an enveloped RNA virus in the flaviviridae family with a narrow host range. About 80 percent of newly infected patients suffer chronic infections, according to the World Health Organization (Source WHO).
Worldwide, approximately 170 million people (3 percent of the world’s population) are chronic carriers of HCV, and 3 to 4 million are newly infected each year. The disease is more frequent in some countries in Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean, South-East Asia and the Western Pacific (Source WHO). Still, in the United States alone, 8,000 to 10,000 deaths and 1,000 liver transplants due to HCV are recorded each year.
Current treatment and prevention
Currently, there is no available vaccine and the disease is mainly treated with a combination of interferon and ribavirin – a long-term therapy which is only effective in about 50 percent of the cases, and is costly and with substantial side effects.
Latest News
Favourable six months follow-up results from Intercell's Phase II therapeutic Hepatitis C program
Intercell receives "The Vaccine Industry Excellence Award"
Partners
- Novartis