Veterinary Vaccine Against Hepatitis E

NL Biotechnologies specialises in vaccine development for viral Hepatitis B, C and E. One of our current projects is a veterinary vaccine against Hepatitis E.

Annually there are 20 million Hepatitis E infections worldwide, three million of which are acute cases. 70,000 people die each year as a result of contracting Hepatitis E.

Unlike the other viral Hepatitis agents, certain strains of Hepatitis E can have zoonotic hosts. Domestic and wild animals have been responsible for Hepatitis E outbreaks in non-endemic areas. As a result, a veterinary vaccine against hepatitis E would be a useful tool in preventing the spread of the disease.

NL Biotechnologies has been working on such a vaccine since 2001. At present we have a prospective candidate completed at lab-scale and ready for trials.

Our vaccine is based on the expression of Hepatitis E protein in a Hansenula polymorpha yeast system. The Hepatitis E recombinant protein (rHE-Ag) is glycosylated and self-assembled into virus-like particles in the culture media. In trials our rHE-Ag has shown the ability to induce specific antibody in mammals against a variety of Hepatitis E genotypes. These include genotypes 3 and 4 which are prevalent in pigs and pose the main threat of animal to human transmission.

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Veterinary Vaccine Against Hepatitis E