Advertisement

Aussie breakthrough leading the way for Hep C cure

A discovery by an Australian scientist could be the answer to developing a cure for Hepatitis C and other serious diseases.

For 20 years, Australian scientist Dr Michael Graham studied how plants fight off disease, and has applied it to humans.

“I was working in pineapples and potatoes and I believed I'd discovered a way of turning genes off more efficiently than the technologies that were about,” he said,

“Then we tested whether or not we could do that in animals cells,and that turned out to be the case.”

The ‘gene silencing technology’ DNA Directed RNA Interference works by permanently turning off genes causing disease.

Dr Peter French, CEO of the company Benitec Biopharma which is developing gene therapy medicine, says the potential ability for this Australian invention to cure Hepatitis C with a single injection is groundbreaking.

“The target cell then comes back to a normal cell, and therefore the disease condition goes away and stays away for the lifetime of the cell,” Dr French said.

“We're developing treatments for major diseases, diseases like hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, lung cancer, macular degeneration, chronic pain and muscular dystrophy,” he said.

Clinical trials AIDS and HIV sufferers are already underway in the US.

The results will be available later this year, and clinical trials for the treatment of Hepatitis C will begin in the next few weeks.

The gene silencing technology should be available for patients within five years, and even sooner for Hepatitis sufferers.

For more information visit the Benitec Biopharma Ltd website or email info@benitec.com.