EVI joins new initiative to advance promising Hepatitis C vaccine: HCVIVA

An inactivated Hepatitis C vaccine showing promising results in preclinical trials moves closer to human trials, with a new project to establish and optimise production and manufacture of the vaccine.

16 April 2025

Hepatitis C continues to pose a significant global health challenge, with an estimated 50 million people living with chronic infections and 250,000 dying each year from liver disease. With one million new infections annually, the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified hepatitis C virus (HCV) as one of the top four pathogens in urgent need of a vaccine. However, developing an effective HCV vaccine has long been hindered by the virus’s extreme diversity and ability to evade immune responses.

EVI is partner in a new collaborative effort for the advancement of a promising HCV inactivated vaccine (HCVIVA) candidate. The HCVIVA project, which is funded by Innovation Fund Denmark and led by Hvidovre Hospital (HVH) in Copenhagen offers renewed hope of developing an effective vaccine for the prevention of diseases caused by HCV. The HCVIVA candidate exposes critical conserved neutralising epitopes to the immune system, having the potential to prompting the production of broadly neutralising antibodies as indicated in preclinical studies.

The HCVIVA consortium will bring this innovative vaccine candidate toward human trials by establishing a production cell line and developing standard manufacturing protocols, while also optimising the vaccine regimen, including dosage, adjuvant, and delivery method, through multiple immunogenicity and protection studies.

With these steps, HCVIVA is poised to bring the world closer to an effective hepatitis C vaccine, a crucial tool in achieving WHO’s goal of eliminating HCV as a major public health threat. If successful, this vaccine could significantly reduce new infections, prevent severe liver diseases, and save countless lives worldwide.

Acknowledgments

HCVIVA - Hepatitis C Virus Inactivated Vaccine Advancement project is funded by Innovation Fund Denmark (IFD). Coordinated by RegionH Hvidovre Hospital (DK), other partners include Nuvonis (AT), Statens Serum Institute (DK), AJ Vaccines A/S (DK) and University of Copenhagen (DK).

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