Nobel Prize for Medicine brings hepatitis C into the limelight

For their work in discovering the hepatitis C virus, (from left) virologists Drs Rice, Alter and Houghton win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine this year. — AFP

A trio of researchers – American virologists Dr Harvey Alter and Dr Charles Rice, and British virologist Dr Michael Houghton – were awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Oct 5 (2020) for their discovery of the hepatitis C virus.

Their work allowed the rapid development of antiviral drugs and blood tests.