Vaccine protected Chinese patients against HEV for up to 4.5 years

A vaccine licensed in China protected healthy adults against hepatitis E virus infection for up to 4.5 years, according to newly published data. “Vaccine development has been facilitated by the observation that all major genotypes of HEV in humans belong to the same serotype,” the researchers wrote. “Two recombinant hepatitis E vaccines developed from HEV genotype 1 by GlaxoSmithKline and Ziamen Innovax Biotech have had short-term efficacy in clinical trials. The latter vaccine, with the commercial name of Hecolin, has been in use in China since 2012. However, the long-term efficacy of this hepatitis E vaccine has not yet been determined.” Researchers randomly assigned 56,302 healthy adults to the HEV vaccine group in which they received three doses of Hecolin (Xiamen Innovax Biotech) at baseline, 1 month and 6 months. An additional 56,302 healthy adults were assigned to a control group in which they received a hepatitis B vaccine in three doses at...