Hepatitis C background:
Infection with the highly contagious hepatitis C virus ("HCV") has grown into a global epidemic, with over 250 million people infected with the virus worldwide - about 4% of the world's population. Because of the lack of a large-scale effort to contain the spread of this virus, the death rate from hepatitis C has surpassed that of HIV/AIDS, and will continue to get worse.
Over 80% of people infected with HCV go on to a chronic infection phase. Chronic infection with HCV leads to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer, and is the leading cause of liver transplantation in the Western World. The current combination drug therapies have limited activity and no Hepatitis C treatment or preventative vaccine or has been commercialized to date.
C-Pharma’s Corporate Mission: Hepatitis C treatment
C-Pharma is on a mission to develop and commercialize less expensive and better tolerated anti-viral therapies and a preventative vaccine made from virus-like particles (VLPs). VLPs are a groundbreaking, new vaccine technology that activates the immune system to prevent and treat HCV diseases. The nearly 100% effective Gardasil® marketed by Merck is a VLP-based vaccine developed against human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and the 3 marketed hepatitis B vaccines are VLP-based vaccines. VLPs are self-assembled protein spheres made from the viral proteins that make up the viral structure. These three dimensional, multi-antigen particles have already proven to be safer and more effective preventative vaccines and may be used as anti-viral therapies as well. Compass Biotechnologies Inc., the parent of C-Pharma is the only company with a VLP vaccine under development to prevent and eliminate HCV infection.
Products to Fight HCV Infection |
