Victoria University of Wellington research could hold the key to Hepatitis B cure
A research partnership between Victoria University of Wellington’s Ferrier Research Institute and the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research originally formed to target cancer could hold the key to a cure for Hepatitis B (HBV).
Professor Gavin Painter from the Ferrier Research Institute and Professor Ian Hermans from the Malaghan Institute have worked together for over a decade on technology to help prevent or treat infectious diseases and cancer. In 2015 Viclink, Victoria University of Wellington’s commercialisation arm, helped turn their research partnership into a company, Avalia Immunotherapies.
Using Professor Painter and Professor Hermans’ research, Avalia Immunotherapies began work on cancer therapies, and the therapies they developed stimulated a powerful immune response in the liver. As Hepatitis B is a disease of the liver, the team at Avalia realised their work could also be used to develop a cure for Hepatitis B.
“Our vaccine therapy generates memory T cells in the liver, which have the long-term ability to seek out and eliminate HBV-infected cells,” says Dr Shivali Gulab, Chief Executive of Avalia Immunotherapies.
She says that this family of T cells have been reported in recent scientific journals as a potential key to curing HBV.
Hepatitis B is a currently incurable disease that affects 250 million patients worldwide. Around10 percent of those infected progress to a lifelong chronic infection which leads to liver cirrhosis and cancer.
Avalia Immunotherapies is also working to develop preventative vaccines for malaria and influenza, and treatments for different cancers.