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CompletedNCT01014845Updated Jul 13, 2020

Clinical Trial of Recombinant Hepatitis E Vaccine

A Phase 3 interventional study of hepatitis E vaccine and Hepatitis B vaccine in Hepatitis E, sponsored by Xiamen University. Completed at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 16 Years to 65 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2020-07-13.

Sponsored by Xiamen University · Phase 3, Interventional, and Prevention

Phase
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
112,604
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
16 Years to 65 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The primary purpose of this study is to determine whether the preventive hepatitis E are effective in the prevention of hepatitis E occurring at least 30 days after the administration of the third dose of vaccine.

The secondary purpose of this study is to to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity and immunopersistence of the study vaccine.

The initial study is planed to be ended on month 19 and the results were analysed and used for registration purpose. The extended study will be continued to assess the long-term efficacy, immunogenicity and safety.

Read the detailed description

Participants were randomly allocated into two groups, one received Hepatitis E vaccine and the other received hepatitis B vaccine. The study was carried out with two stages. In the first stage (phase 3a), 2 645 subjects was enrolled and actively monitored for solicited adverse events for 1 month after each injection. Serum samples from all the subjects were collected on day 0, 7m, 13m, 19m and timely after then to evaluate the immunogenicity and immuno-persistency. In the second stage (phase 3b), another 109 959 subjects was enrolled and monitored for solicited adverse events for 1 month after each injection. Serum samples from 9764 subjects among the phase 3b participants were collected on day 0, 7m, 19m and timely after then to evaluate the immunogenicity and immuno-persistency. Serious adverse events during the trial were followed up.

Suspected hepatitis cases were identified through an established active hepatitis surveillance system. The sentinels of the system comprised all the healthcare facilities in the field. Suspected hepatitis was defined as when patients presented with systemic symptoms such as fatigue and/or loss of appetite for more than 3 days with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) exceeding 2.5 fold upper limit of normal range (ULN). Paired sera were obtained from these patients at the time of presentation and 2-6 weeks later. Sera were tested for the HEV antibodies and HEV-RNA.

02

Conditions studied

  • Hepatitis E

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Keywords

  • hepatitis E
  • vaccine
  • efficacy
03

In context

Hepatitis E

37 studies on the registry are indexed under Hepatitis E; 9 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 112,604 is above the median of 330 across 26 interventional studies indexed under Hepatitis E.

Browse Hepatitis E studies →

Lead sponsor

Xiamen University is the lead sponsor of 26 studies on the registry; 7 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
16 Years to 65 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Healthy people aged from 16 years to 65 years old at the time of the first vaccination, normal intelligence and agree to sign the form.
  • Subjects will reside in the study region in the next 19 months.
  • Free of history of or hepatitis E.
  • Can comply with the request of study.
  • Axillary temperature is below 37 degree centigrade.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

For dose 1:

  • Having other vaccine or immunoglobulin within two weeks;
  • Having allergic history to vaccine and medicine
  • Eclampsia, epilepsy, encephalopathy and history of mental disease or family;
  • Thrombocytopenia or other disturbance of blood coagulation which would lead to muscle injection taboo;
  • Fixed or suspected deficiency of immunologic function, containing treatment(radiation therapy, chemical treatment, hormone, antimetabolites, cytotoxic drugs), genetic defect(e.g. fabism), or other factors;
  • congenital malformation, eccyliosis or severe chronic disease(e.g. Down Syndrome, diabetes, sickle cell anemia or mental disease);
  • fixed or suspected other disease including fever, active infection, liver and kidney disease, angiocardiopathy, , acute and chronic disease;
  • joining other clinical study undergoing;
  • women pregnant or in lactation.

For dose 2 or 3:

  • Severe allergy for dose 1 or 2;
  • Severe adverse reaction associated with last vaccination;
  • New occurrence of symptoms meet dose 1 exclusion criteria after the first dose.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(6)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Hepatitis B tests

Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.

Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.

Immunosuppression

A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.

Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.

Corticosteroids (steroids)

Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.

Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.

HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.

Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 3
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Quadruple (Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
112,604 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Hepatitis E vaccine

    Hepatitis E vaccine, containing 30mcg of HEV239 recombinant antigen adsorbed to alum adjuvant suspended in 0.5ml phosphate buffer, was given at 0, 1, 6m for three doses.

    Biological: hepatitis E vaccine

  • Placebo comparator
    HBV vaccine

    Hepatitis B vaccine, containing 5mcg of HBsAg recombinant antigen adsorbed to alum adjuvant suspended in 0.5ml phosphate buffer, was given at 0, 1, 6m for three doses.

    Biological: Hepatitis B vaccine

Interventions

  • Intramuscularly given at 0, 1, 6m for three doses.

    Also known as: Hecolin

  • BiologicalHepatitis B vaccine

    Intramuscularly given at 0, 1, 6m for three doses.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Rate of confirmed hepatitis E cases

    Time frame: One year since one month post the third injection

Secondary outcomes

  1. IgG anti-HEV seroconversion rate

    Time frame: On one month post the third injection

  2. Persistency of IgG anti-HEV

    Time frame: One year

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Dongtai Center for Disease Control and Prevention
    Dongtai, Jiangsu 224200, China
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Zhang J, Liu CB, Li RC, Li YM, Zheng YJ, Li YP, Luo D, Pan BB, Nong Y, Ge SX, Xiong JH, Shih JW, Ng MH, Xia NS. Randomized-controlled phase II clinical trial of a bacterially expressed recombinant hepatitis E vaccine. Vaccine. 2009 Mar 13;27(12):1869-74. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2008.12.061. Epub 2009 Jan 23. PubMed 19168109 ↗
  • Li S, Tang X, Seetharaman J, Yang C, Gu Y, Zhang J, Du H, Shih JW, Hew CL, Sivaraman J, Xia N. Dimerization of hepatitis E virus capsid protein E2s domain is essential for virus-host interaction. PLoS Pathog. 2009 Aug;5(8):e1000537. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1000537. Epub 2009 Aug 7. PubMed 19662165 ↗
  • He S, Miao J, Zheng Z, Wu T, Xie M, Tang M, Zhang J, Ng MH, Xia N. Putative receptor-binding sites of hepatitis E virus. J Gen Virol. 2008 Jan;89(Pt 1):245-249. doi: 10.1099/vir.0.83308-0. PubMed 18089748 ↗
  • Li SW, Zhang J, Li YM, Ou SH, Huang GY, He ZQ, Ge SX, Xian YL, Pang SQ, Ng MH, Xia NS. A bacterially expressed particulate hepatitis E vaccine: antigenicity, immunogenicity and protectivity on primates. Vaccine. 2005 Apr 22;23(22):2893-901. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2004.11.064. PubMed 15780738 ↗
  • Zhang J, Gu Y, Ge SX, Li SW, He ZQ, Huang GY, Zhuang H, Ng MH, Xia NS. Analysis of hepatitis E virus neutralization sites using monoclonal antibodies directed against a virus capsid protein. Vaccine. 2005 Apr 22;23(22):2881-92. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2004.11.065. PubMed 15780737 ↗
  • Li SW, Zhang J, He ZQ, Gu Y, Liu RS, Lin J, Chen YX, Ng MH, Xia NS. Mutational analysis of essential interactions involved in the assembly of hepatitis E virus capsid. J Biol Chem. 2005 Feb 4;280(5):3400-6. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M410361200. Epub 2004 Nov 22. PubMed 15557331 ↗
  • Zhu FC, Zhang J, Zhang XF, Zhou C, Wang ZZ, Huang SJ, Wang H, Yang CL, Jiang HM, Cai JP, Wang YJ, Ai X, Hu YM, Tang Q, Yao X, Yan Q, Xian YL, Wu T, Li YM, Miao J, Ng MH, Shih JW, Xia NS. Efficacy and safety of a recombinant hepatitis E vaccine in healthy adults: a large-scale, randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial. Lancet. 2010 Sep 11;376(9744):895-902. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61030-6. Epub 2010 Aug 20. PubMed 20728932 ↗
  • Wu T, Huang SJ, Zhu FC, Zhang XF, Ai X, Yan Q, Wang ZZ, Yang CL, Jiang HM, Liu XH, Guo M, Du HL, Ng MH, Zhang J, Xia NS. Immunogenicity and safety of hepatitis E vaccine in healthy hepatitis B surface antigen positive adults. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2013 Nov;9(11):2474-9. doi: 10.4161/hv.25814. Epub 2013 Jul 25. PubMed 23887167 ↗
  • Wu T, Zhu FC, Huang SJ, Zhang XF, Wang ZZ, Zhang J, Xia NS. Safety of the hepatitis E vaccine for pregnant women: a preliminary analysis. Hepatology. 2012 Jun;55(6):2038. doi: 10.1002/hep.25522. No abstract available. PubMed 22161542 ↗
  • Zhu FC, Huang SJ, Wu T, Zhang XF, Wang ZZ, Ai X, Yan Q, Yang CL, Cai JP, Jiang HM, Wang YJ, Ng MH, Zhang J, Xia NS. Epidemiology of zoonotic hepatitis E: a community-based surveillance study in a rural population in China. PLoS One. 2014 Jan 31;9(1):e87154. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0087154. eCollection 2014. PubMed 24498033 ↗
  • Zhang J, Zhang XF, Zhou C, Wang ZZ, Huang SJ, Yao X, Liang ZL, Wu T, Li JX, Yan Q, Yang CL, Jiang HM, Huang HJ, Xian YL, Shih JW, Ng MH, Li YM, Wang JZ, Zhu FC, Xia NS. Protection against hepatitis E virus infection by naturally acquired and vaccine-induced immunity. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2014 Jun;20(6):O397-405. doi: 10.1111/1469-0691.12419. Epub 2013 Nov 18. PubMed 24118636 ↗
  • Kmush BL, Yu H, Huang S, Zhang X, Wu T, Nelson KE, Labrique AB. Long-term Antibody Persistence After Hepatitis E Virus Infection and Vaccination in Dongtai, China. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2019 Mar 28;6(4):ofz144. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofz144. eCollection 2019 Apr. Erratum In: Open Forum Infect Dis. 2019 Aug 1;6(8):ofz224. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofz224. PubMed 31024978 ↗
  • Chen S, Zhou Z, Wei FX, Huang SJ, Tan Z, Fang Y, Zhu FC, Wu T, Zhang J, Xia NS. Modeling the long-term antibody response of a hepatitis E vaccine. Vaccine. 2015 Aug 7;33(33):4124-9. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.06.050. Epub 2015 Jun 28. PubMed 26126668 ↗
  • Zhang J, Zhang XF, Huang SJ, Wu T, Hu YM, Wang ZZ, Wang H, Jiang HM, Wang YJ, Yan Q, Guo M, Liu XH, Li JX, Yang CL, Tang Q, Jiang RJ, Pan HR, Li YM, Shih JW, Ng MH, Zhu FC, Xia NS. Long-term efficacy of a hepatitis E vaccine. N Engl J Med. 2015 Mar 5;372(10):914-22. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1406011. Erratum In: N Engl J Med. 2015 Apr 9;372(15):1478. doi: 10.1056/NEJMx150008. PubMed 25738667 ↗
09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jul 13, 2020, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT01014845
Lead sponsor
Xiamen University
Collaborators
Xiamen Innovax Biotech Co., Ltd, Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co., Ltd., National Institute of Diagnostics and Vaccine Development in infectious disease, Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Responsible party
Jun Zhang (professor, Xiamen University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Nov 17, 2009
Start date
Aug 2007
Primary completion
Oct 2017
Completion
Oct 2017
Last update
Jul 13, 2020

Study contacts

Jun Zhang, M.D.
study director · National Institute of Diagnostics and Vaccine Development in infectious disease, Xiamen University
Feng-Cai Zhu, M.D.
principal investigator · Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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Studies of the drug tested here: Hecolin

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