Where to Next? Research Directions after the First Hepatitis C Vaccine Efficacy Trial

Thirty years after its discovery, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains a leading cause of liver disease worldwide. Given that many countries continue to experience high rates of transmission despite the availability of potent antiviral therapies, an effective vaccine is seen as critical for the elimi...

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Main Authors: Christopher C. Phelps, Christopher M. Walker, Jonathan R. Honegger
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
Series:Viruses
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/7/1351
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spelling doaj-0670a10867c94be7b6a7e7ff5d2c33ab2021-07-23T14:11:38ZengMDPI AGViruses1999-49152021-07-01131351135110.3390/v13071351Where to Next? Research Directions after the First Hepatitis C Vaccine Efficacy TrialChristopher C. Phelps0Christopher M. Walker1Jonathan R. Honegger2Center for Vaccines and Immunity, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USACenter for Vaccines and Immunity, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USACenter for Vaccines and Immunity, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USAThirty years after its discovery, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains a leading cause of liver disease worldwide. Given that many countries continue to experience high rates of transmission despite the availability of potent antiviral therapies, an effective vaccine is seen as critical for the elimination of HCV. The recent failure of the first vaccine efficacy trial for the prevention of chronic HCV confirmed suspicions that this virus will be a challenging vaccine target. Here, we examine the published data from this first efficacy trial along with the earlier clinical and pre-clinical studies of the vaccine candidate and then discuss three key research directions expected to be important in ongoing and future HCV vaccine development. These include the following: 1. design of novel immunogens that generate immune responses to genetically diverse HCV genotypes and subtypes, 2. strategies to elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies against envelope glycoproteins in addition to cytotoxic and helper T cell responses, and 3. consideration of the unique immunological status of individuals most at risk for HCV infection, including those who inject drugs, in vaccine platform development and early immunogenicity trials.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/7/1351hepatitis C virus (HCV)vaccineimmunityT cellsB cellsantibodies
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Christopher C. Phelps
Christopher M. Walker
Jonathan R. Honegger
spellingShingle Christopher C. Phelps
Christopher M. Walker
Jonathan R. Honegger
Where to Next? Research Directions after the First Hepatitis C Vaccine Efficacy Trial
Viruses
hepatitis C virus (HCV)
vaccine
immunity
T cells
B cells
antibodies
author_facet Christopher C. Phelps
Christopher M. Walker
Jonathan R. Honegger
author_sort Christopher C. Phelps
title Where to Next? Research Directions after the First Hepatitis C Vaccine Efficacy Trial
title_short Where to Next? Research Directions after the First Hepatitis C Vaccine Efficacy Trial
title_full Where to Next? Research Directions after the First Hepatitis C Vaccine Efficacy Trial
title_fullStr Where to Next? Research Directions after the First Hepatitis C Vaccine Efficacy Trial
title_full_unstemmed Where to Next? Research Directions after the First Hepatitis C Vaccine Efficacy Trial
title_sort where to next? research directions after the first hepatitis c vaccine efficacy trial
publisher MDPI AG
series Viruses
issn 1999-4915
publishDate 2021-07-01
description Thirty years after its discovery, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains a leading cause of liver disease worldwide. Given that many countries continue to experience high rates of transmission despite the availability of potent antiviral therapies, an effective vaccine is seen as critical for the elimination of HCV. The recent failure of the first vaccine efficacy trial for the prevention of chronic HCV confirmed suspicions that this virus will be a challenging vaccine target. Here, we examine the published data from this first efficacy trial along with the earlier clinical and pre-clinical studies of the vaccine candidate and then discuss three key research directions expected to be important in ongoing and future HCV vaccine development. These include the following: 1. design of novel immunogens that generate immune responses to genetically diverse HCV genotypes and subtypes, 2. strategies to elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies against envelope glycoproteins in addition to cytotoxic and helper T cell responses, and 3. consideration of the unique immunological status of individuals most at risk for HCV infection, including those who inject drugs, in vaccine platform development and early immunogenicity trials.
topic hepatitis C virus (HCV)
vaccine
immunity
T cells
B cells
antibodies
url https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/7/1351
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