Three Share Nobel Prize for Hepatitis C Research

Oct. 5, 2020 — Two U.S. researchers and a British scientist have been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for major contributions to the fight against blood-borne hepatitis.

Hepatitis C, which causes cirrhosis and liver cancer, causes 400,000 deaths worldwide each year, the Washington Post reported.

The three recipients are: Harvey Alter, a clinical scientist at a U.S. National Institutes of Health blood bank; Charles Rice, of the Washington University in St. Louis; and British-born virologist Michael Houghton.

The researchers’ work was described by the Nobel Committee as “a landmark achievement in our battle against viral infections,” the Post reported.