# Rational design and efficacy testing of vaccines against HCV

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK · 2024 · $179,958

## Abstract

Project Summary
An estimated 58 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and are at heightened risk
for severe liver disease, including fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Although effective directly-
acting antiviral treatment is available, only an HCV vaccine will help prevent infection, associated pathologies,
and effectively reduce global disease burden. Cumulative evidence has shown that both B and T cell immunity
contribute to the control of acute HCV infection. A major challenge is the high variability across the genome
especially in the envelope E1E2 glycoproteins, the natural target of protective antibodies. An E1E2-based
immunogen will need to elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) to multiple epitopes to overcome the high
antigenic diversity of HCV isolates and be of sufficient titers to achieve protective immunity. Our approach is
supported by our recent data that a secreted form of E1E2 (sE1E2) maintains its native-like properties and can
elicit broader neutralizing antibody responses than the membrane-bound form of E1E2 and secreted E2. Such
efforts as funded by the parent proposal require a significant amount of protein production and the current
equipment in use in support of protein production under this award is obsolete and no longer supported by the
manufacturer. Moreover, the equipment has experienced several recent failures and diminished functionality.
Therefore, the supplemental award will allow the team to maintain our current scientific momentum by ensuring
the timely production of antigens for bioanalytical characterization, structural analysis, and immunological
evaluation in animal models.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11084012
- **Project number:** 3R01AI168048-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK
- **Principal Investigator:** Alexander Andrianov
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $179,958
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2022-05-05 → 2027-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11084012

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11084012, Rational design and efficacy testing of vaccines against HCV (3R01AI168048-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11084012. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*