Harvey Alter and Charles Rice from the US... Michael Houghton from the UK jointly awarded
Nobel Committee "Decisive contribution to combating hepatitis and cirrhosis"
Dr. Harvey Alter of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), Professor Michael Houghton of the University of Alberta, and Professor Charles Rice of Rockefeller University, who were awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. This year, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three individuals: Harvey Alter (85) and Charles Rice (68) from the United States, and Michael Houghton (70) from the United Kingdom.
The Nobel Committee at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden announced on the 5th (local time) that these three were selected for their decisive contributions to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus, which enabled the fight against diseases such as liver cancer and cirrhosis.
The committee evaluated that they contributed to identifying the main cause of blood-borne hepatitis that could not be explained by hepatitis A or B.
They added that thanks to their discovery of the hepatitis C virus, blood diagnostics became possible, new drugs were developed, and millions of lives were saved.
The committee especially explained, "For the first time in history, treatment for hepatitis C has become possible, giving humanity hope to eradicate this disease."
Patrick Ernfors, a member of the Nobel Committee who announced the laureates, said, "The most important point is that they identified the virus causing the disease," adding, "This discovery was the starting point for developing drugs and vaccines to finally treat the illness."
Alter is affiliated with the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), Rice with Rockefeller University in New York, and Houghton with the University of Alberta in Canada.
The Nobel Committee stated that Alter, one of the laureates, conveyed his acceptance remarks by phone, saying, "It is very astonishing to see so many patients being treated."
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 70 million people contract hepatitis annually, with 400,000 deaths.
The laureates will receive a prize of 9 million kronor (approximately 1.09 billion KRW).
The Nobel Prize ceremony, held every year on December 10th in Stockholm, Sweden, will be replaced by an online event this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded a total of 111 times from 1901 to this year, with no laureates selected on nine occasions (1915?1918, 1921, 1925, 1940?1942) during World War I and II periods.
Up to this year, a total of 222 individuals have received the prize, including 12 women.
The youngest laureate in history was Frederick Banting from Canada, who discovered insulin for diabetes treatment and received the prize at age 32 in 1923. The oldest laureate was Peyton Rous from the United States, who discovered tumor-causing viruses and received the prize at age 87 in 1966.
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