A BIOTECHNOLOGY company in New Zealand has developed a 鈥渃urative vaccine鈥� to
treat psoriasis, a previously incurable autoimmune skin disease that affects 100
million people worldwide.
Genesis Research and Development in Auckland has completed clinical trials of
the vaccine鈥攌nown as PVAC鈥攊n the Philippines. The vaccine is the
first to eradicate a disease already in the body rather than preventing it from
taking hold.
鈥淧VAC works by blunting the attack of T lymphocytes directed against the
patient鈥檚 own skin cells,鈥� says Jim Watson, who directed the research. In the
two-year trial, PVAC cleared symptoms in 50 per cent of patients, which suggests
that it only works against one type of psoriasis.
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