Core-002 - Non-Human Primate Core

Summary
Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection affects an estimated 71 million people worldwide. Chronic HCV
infection frequently leads to liver cirrhosis and predisposes infected individuals to liver cancer.
Approximately, 400,000 die from HCV-related complications a year. While a cure for HCV has recently
been developed, access to and affordability of this treatment is limited. Furthermore, less than 20% of
chronically infected individuals are aware of their diagnosis. Therefore, to eliminate HCV, a vaccine is
still urgently needed. Because of the genetic variability of the HCV, to date HCV vaccines that have been
tested clinically have not been successful at preventing chronic infection. This study takes advantage of
recent structural data of HCV antigen complexes, computational methods to optimize antigen structure
presentation, multivalent presentation of those antigens on self-assembling nanoparticles, and preclinical
testing in a nonhuman primate model that has demonstrated strong predictive value of human antibody
responses. Core C: NHP, based at the Southwest National Primate Research Center, will evaluate the
immunogenicity of rationally designed HCV vaccine antigens and nanoparticles using a non-human
primate (NHP) model, rhesus macaques, and collect blood and tissue samples to enable in-depth
analysis of the immune responses elicited by the vaccine antigens in this P01 research program.

Grant Number: 5P01AI168251-05
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Christopher Chen