Vaccines

Vaccines: timeline of key events

Jenner was an English physician who helped pioneer the smallpox vaccine based on his hypothesis that the pus in blisters milkmaids received from cowpox protected them from smallpox. To test out his theory in 1796 he inoculated the 8 year old son of his gardener with pus taken from the cowpox blisters of a local milkmaid. While the boy suffered a fever he showed no sign of infection with smallpox. Jenner then injected the child with smallpox material, a common method of immunisation at the time, known as variolation. Again he showed no sign of infection. Following this, Jenner tested the same technique in 23 further people. Based on his success, in 1840 the British government outlawed variolation and provided Jenner's method for free to prevent smallpox. Jenner's work laid the foundation for immunisation as a method for preventing disease and for contemporary discoveries in immunology. 1749-05-17T00:00:00+0000Edward Jenner, English physician, inoculated a child with material taken from cowpox pustles to protect him from smallpox. 1797-01-01T00:00:00+0000Jenner was an English physician who helped pioneer the smallpox vaccine based on his hypothesis that the pus in blisters milkmaids received from cowpox protected them from smallpox. To test out his theory in 1796 he inoculated the 8 year old son of his gardener with pus taken from the cowpox blisters of a local milkmaid. While the boy suffered a fever he showed now sign of infection with smallpox. Jenner then injected the child with smallpox material, a common method of immunisation at the time, known as variolation. Again he showed no sign of infection. Jenner then tested out the same technique in 23 further people. Based on his success, in 1840 the British government decided to outlaw variolation and instead provide Jenner's method for free to prevent smallpox. Jenner's work laid the foundation for immunisation as a method for preventing disease and for contemporary discoveries in immunology. 1823-01-26T00:00:00+0000Wright was a bacteriologist and immunologist who pioneered the development of a vaccine against typhoid in the 1890s. Initially the British military authorities were reluctant to roll out the vaccine, but limited trials during the Boer War proved its value. Further trials conducted among 3,000 soldiers in India confirmed its efficacy and the War Office used it to vaccinate British troops at the outset of World War I. Wright also developed vaccines against enteric tuberculosis and pneumonia. He also instrumental in research to understand how blood enzymes make bacteria more susceptible to phagocytosis by white blood cells. 1861-08-10T00:00:00+0000Calmette was a physician and bacteriologist who is credited with the discovery that the virulence of bovine tubercle bacilli is weakened when cultured on bile-containing medium. Discovered in 1908, this paved the way to the development of the tuberculosis vaccine Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG). The vaccine was first used in newborn infants in Paris in 1921. Calmette also developed a diagnostic test for tuberculosis, known as Calmette's reaction. 1863-07-12T00:00:00+0000Nicolle was a French bacteriologist who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1903 for identifying lice as the transmission vector for epidemic typhus and by working out how tick fever is transmitted. He also to helped discover the parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis, a common infection that is usually harmless but can cause serious problems in some people. Nicolle also developed a vaccine for Malta fever, a disease now called brucellosis. 1866-09-21T00:00:00+0000A physician and bacteriologist, Zinsser isolated the bacterium that causes typhus and developed a protective vaccine against it. In 1935 he published the book 'Rats, Live and History' in which he recounted the effects of typhus on mankind and the efforts to eradicate it. In the book he argued that disease was responsible for more deaths than war. 1878-11-17T00:00:00+0000Louis Pasteur develops an attenuated chicken cholera vaccine1879-01-01T00:00:00+0000Louis Pasteur successfully tested his rabies vaccine on a nine year old boy who had been bitten by a rabid dog.1885-07-06T00:00:00+0000Goodpasture was a research scientist who developed the first method for culturing uncontaminated viruses in chicken embryos and fertilised chicken eggs. Before this viruses were grown in living tissues which could be contaminated by bacteria. Goodpasture's method laid the foundation for the mass production of vaccines for diseases like smallpox, yellow fever, typhus and chicken pox. He was also a key pioneer in the development of the mumps vaccine. 1886-10-17T00:00:00+0000Rivers was a bacteriologist and virologist whose development of a tissue culture for the vaccinia virus, in 1931, paved the way to the development of a vaccine against yellow-fever. He also made important contributions to understanding the viral causes of influenza and chickenpox. Rivers served as the director of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (1937-56) and chaired the virus research committee of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (now the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) (1938-1955) which oversaw the development of the Salk and Sabin vaccines against polio. 1888-09-03T00:00:00+0000Enders shared the 1954 Nobel Prize for helping to develop a technique to grow the poliomyeltitis virus in various types of tissue culture. This he achieved with colleagues Thomas Weller and Fredric Robbins in 1949. Their technique paved the way for Jonas Salk's development of a vaccine against polio. Enders is also renowned for having helped pioneer the first measles vaccine. 1897-02-10T00:00:00+0000Wyckoff was a major pioneer of x-ray crystallography of bacteria. He helped develop a high-speed centrifuge for segregating microscopic and submicroscopic material to determine the sizes and molecular weights of small particles. In addition he purified the virus that causes equine encephalomyelitis which laid the foundation for the development of a vaccine to combat an epidemic of the disease in horses. His work in this field enabled him to create a vaccine against epidemic typhus for use in World War II. 1897-08-09T00:00:00+0000The vaccine was developed by William Coley, a New York surgeon, together with the pharmaceutical company Parke, Davis & Co. The vaccine contained a combination of heat-killed bacteria. 1899-01-01T00:00:00+0000Theiler was a physician who specialised in infectious diseases. He is best known for helping to show that yellow fever is caused by a virus and his development of a safe and effective vaccine against the disease. This work he did in the 1930s while based at the International Health Division of the Rockefeller Foundation. His first vaccine was used by the French government to protect the residents of French territories in Western Africa. A second one, an improved version, was launched in Brazil in 1938. Over 400 million doses of this vaccine was given out to people over the next 60 years. Theiler was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1951 for his yellow fever vaccine. 1899-01-30T00:00:00+0000Francis was a microbiologist and epidemiologist. He is credited with the discovery and isolation of the two strains of virus that cause influenza. Francis discovered the first one (A) in 1934 and the other (B) in 1940. He went on to develop an effective polyvalent vaccine against both strains. Francis was also involved in research that paved the way to the development of antiserums for the treatment of pneumonia. He was also the director of the large-scale clinical trials conducted in 1954 that led to the widespread adoption of the Salk vaccine against poliomyelitis.1900-07-15T00:00:00+0000Stanley was a biochemist and virologist. In 1935 he managed to crystalise the tobacco virus, the causative agent of plant disease. This was a major breakthrough because prior to this no scientists had succeeded in finding out what viruses were. His work laid the foundation for other scientists, using x-ray diffraction, to work out the precise molecular structures and reproduction process of several viruses. During World War II he managed to purify several of the most common influenza viruses and developed a vaccine that was partly effective. In 1946 he shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the 'preparation of enzymes and virus proteins in a pure form.'1904-08-16T00:00:00+0000Sterne pioneered a vaccine against anthrax in 1935 which effectively wiped out the disease. He used Pasteur's methods to develop the vaccine while based at Onderstepoort Veterinary Research Institute, north of Pretoria, in South Africa. His method remains the mainstay for the production of anthrax vaccines for livestock today. In addition to the vaccine he developed bacterial culture methods for both anthrax and botulism and his work laid the foundation for a number of highly successful veterinary and animal vaccines.1905-06-01T00:00:00+0000A medical researcher and virologist, Salk pioneered the first safe and effective polio vaccine. Introduced in 1955, Salk's vaccine helped curb one of the most frightening public health diseases in the world. Over 1,800,000 school children took part in the trial to test his vaccine. His vaccine used killed virus rather than weakened forms of the strain of polio used by Sabin to develop another vaccine against the disease. Salk refused to patent his vaccine and made his technique as widely available as possible. His polio vaccine is now on the World Health Organisation's List of Essential Medicine.1914-10-28T00:00:00+0000Robbins was a paediatrician and virologist who made his name in 1941 by helping to develop a tissue culture technique to grow the polio virus, one of the most feared diseases at the time. The method involved the growth of the virus using a mixture of human embryonic skin and muscle tissue. It provided an important step towards the development of a vaccine against polio. The tissue culture technique also helped scientists discover new respiratory viruses and paved the way to culturing the measles virus to make a vaccine against it. Robbins shared the 1954 Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work.1916-08-25T00:00:00+0000A virologist, Koprowski invented the world's first effective live polio vaccine while at Lederle Laboratories. He developed the vaccine by attenuating the virus in brain cells of a cotton rat. In January 1948 he injected the vaccine into himself. The vaccine had the advantage that it directly entered the intestinal tract and provided long-lasting immunity. Within a decade the vaccine had been adopted on four continents. Koprowski went on to become the director of the Wistar Institute where in the 1960s he led efforts to improve the rabies vaccine. He subsequently became the first scientist, together with colleagues, to hold a patent for monoclonal antibodies. Born to Jewish parents, Koprowski was forced to flee Poland in 1939 after Germany invaded the country. 1916-12-05T00:00:00+0000Hilleman, a microbiologist, is credited with having saved more children's lives than any other medical scientist in the 20th century. He pioneered eight out of the fourteen vaccines routinely recommended for children today. This includes the vaccines for measles, mumps, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, chickenpox, meningitis, pneumonia and Haemophilus influenzae bacteria. Hilleman developed these vaccines as head of Merck & Co's virus and cell biology research department. 1919-08-30T00:00:00+0000Blumberg was a physician and geneticist who won the Nobel Prize in 1976 for his discovery of a surface antigen for the hepatitis B virus. He found the antigen while conducting work on blood samples from different populations from around the world to understand genetic variations in susceptibility to disease. The antigen was first spotted testing a blood sample from a haemophiliac patient in New York against blood taken from a visiting Korean physician. Blumberg's discovery paved the way to the development of the first screen test for hepatitis B to prevent its spread in blood donations. His research also helped in the creation of the first vaccine against the disease, which to this day is the gold standard in the management of the disease. 1925-07-28T00:00:00+0000The vaccine was developed by Alexis Carel with Tom Rivers. It was made from vaccinia, or cowpox virus, collected from calf lymph fluid. The vaccine did not prove successful as it did not provide sufficient protection against smallpox, but it showed a way of developing safer vaccines by growing the virus in tissue culture. The technique was published in A Carrel, TM Rivers, 'La Fabrication du vaccin in vitro', Comptes Rendus Soc Biol, 96 (1927), 848. One of the advantages with the new method was that the vaccine had fewer side effects and did not leave a scar after vaccination. 1927-01-01T00:00:00+0000Invented by Philip Drinker, a young doctor at Harvard, the Iron Lung was the first artificial respirator to help patients to breathe despite being paralysed by polio. Treatment involved sealing a patient into a galvanised iron box from the neck down. Powered by by an electric motor with air pumps from two household vacuum cleaners the box had air pumped in and out to mimic the breathing rate of the patient. The first patient to use the machine was an eight year old girl paralysed with polio being cared for at Children's Hospital in Boston. She made a dramatic recovery within less than a minute of being in the device. The Iron Lung became obsolete after the arrival of the polio vaccine which helped eradicated the disease. 1928-10-12T00:00:00+0000June Almeida was a major pioneer of electron microscopy which helped transform knowledge about virology. She is best known for taking the first electron micrograph of the rubella virus and a human coronavirus. Her work also helped uncover the structure of the hepatitis B virus which paved the way to developing a vaccine against hepatitis B. She also published some of the first high quality images of HIV. 1930-10-05T00:00:00+0000Calmette was a French physician and bacteriologist who is credited with the discovery that the virulence of bovine tubercle bacilli is weakened when cultured on bile-containing medium. Discovered in 1908, this paved the way to the development of the tuberculosis vaccine Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG). The vaccine was first used in newborn infants in Paris in 1921. Calmette also developed a diagnostic test for tuberculosis, known as Calmette's reaction.1933-10-29T00:00:00+0000Falkow was a microbiologist who made his scientific mark by showing how bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics. During the 1960s he demonstrated that bacteria could acquire resistance by swapping genetic material via plasmids, small microbial DNA molecules. He studied a wide variety bacteria, from diarrhoea-causing E. coli Salmonella to bacteria that cause whooping cough and bubonic plague. 1934-01-24T00:00:00+0000Nicolle was a French bacteriologist who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1903 for identifying lice as the transmission vector for epidemic typhus and by working out how tick fever is transmitted. He also helped to discover the parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis, a common infection that is usually harmless but can cause serious problems in some people. Nicolle also developed a vaccine for Malta fever, a disease now called brucellosis.1936-02-28T00:00:00+0000Vaccination against yellow fever was introduced in the 1930s. The first British vaccine produced using a mixture of live, mouse-brain passaged virus with human immune serum together with normal serum. Between 1933 and 1938 89 cases of jaundice were observed among 3100 vaccines, about 3% of recipients. Most cases developed the jaundice 2-3 months after vaccination. GM Findlay, F.O. MacCallum, ' Hepatitis and jaundice associated with immunization against certain virus diseases: (section of comparative medicine)', Proc R Soc Med, 31/7 (1938), 799-806.1938-01-01T00:00:00+0000An American physician and bacteriologist, Zinsser isolated the bacterium that causes typhus and developed a protective vaccine against it. In 1935 he published the book 'Rats, Live and History' in which he recounted the effects of typhus on mankind and the efforts to eradicate it. In the book he argued that disease was responsible for more deaths than war.1940-09-04T00:00:00+000028,585 US soldiers were affected, 62 died. WA Sawyer, et al. 'Jaundice in Army personnel in the western region of the United States and its relation to vaccination against yellow fever', American Journal of Epidemiology, 39/3 (1944), 337-430; RH Turner, et al., 'Some clinical studies of acute hepatitis occurring in soldiers after inoculation with yellow fever vaccine', Annals Internal Medicine, 20 (1944), 193-218. Alarmed by the report the British government decided not to vaccine the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, against yellow fever. 1942-01-01T00:00:00+000050,000 US Army personal were hospitalised after receiving contaminated batches of yellow fever vaccine. The epidemic affected 300,000 American troops. G. Freeman, 'Epidemiology and incubation period of jaundice following yellow fever vaccination', American Journal Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, s26/1 (1946), 15-32.1946-01-01T00:00:00+0000The breakthrough was made by Hubert Loring and Carlton Schwerdt. They managed to isolate the virus with 80% purity. The work enabled the team to create the first vaccine in August 1947. Schwerdt continued to improve the technique and by 1953 had managed to isolate 100% pure polio virus with Bachrach Howard, laid the foundation for Jonas Salk to create a safe vaccine in 1955. 1947-01-10T00:00:00+0000Wright was a British bacteriologist and immunologist who pioneered the development of a vaccine against typhoid in the 1890s. Initially the British military authorities were reluctant to roll out the vaccine, but limited trials during the Boer War proved its value. Further trials conducted among 3,000 soldiers in India confirmed its efficacy and the War Office used it to vaccinate British troops at the outset of World War I. Wright also developed vaccines against enteric tuberculosis and pneumonia. He also instrumental in research to understand how blood enzymes make bacteria more susceptible to phagocytosis by white blood cells.1947-04-30T00:00:00+0000The first polio vaccine, developed by Jonas Salk, was tested on children from Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Nearly 2 million children in 44 states were tested. The trial showed the vaccine to be effective. The vaccine radically reduced the number of polio victims around the world.1954-02-23T00:00:00+0000The Sabin vaccine is an oral vaccine that contains weakened forms of strains of polio viruses. It proved easier to give than an earlier injectable vaccine developed by Jonas Salk, in 1954, and its effects lasted longer. The vaccine was designed to work in the intestines to block the polio virus from entering the bloodstream. It therefore provided a means to break transmission chain of the virus and opened the way to eradicating polio. 1956-10-06T00:00:00+0000Mice injected with BCG vaccine shown to develop resistance to growth of implanted tumours. The finding was published in LJ Old, DA Clarke, B Benacerraf, 'Effect of bacillus calmette-guerin infection on transplanted tumours in the mouse', Nature, 184 (1959), 291-92.1959-07-25T00:00:00+0000Goodpasture was an American research scientists who developed the first method for culturing uncontaminated viruses in chicken embryos and fertilised chicken eggs. Before this viruses were grown in living tissues which could be contaminated by bacteria. Goodpasture's method laid the foundation for the mass production of vaccines for diseases like smallpox, yellow fever, typhus and chicken pox. He was also a key pioneer in the development of the mumps vaccine. 1960-09-20T00:00:00+0000Rivers was a bacteriologist and virologist whose development of a tissue culture for the vaccinia virus, in 1931, paved the way to the development of a vaccine against yellow-fever. He also made important contributions to understanding the viral causes of influenza and chickenpox. Rivers served as the director of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (1937-56) and chaired the virus research committee of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (now the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) (1938-1955) which oversaw the development of the Salk and Sabin vaccines against polio.1962-05-12T00:00:00+0000Developed by Samuel Katz and John F Enders, the vaccine would later be incorporated into the MMR, a combination vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella.1963-01-01T00:00:00+0000The vaccine was made by Maurice Hilleman using material taken from his daughter, Jeryl Lynn, when she suffered measles. The Jeryl strain of the mumps vaccine is still in use today and used in the MMR vaccine.1963-01-01T00:00:00+0000Dick was an American physician and bacteriologist who made his name studying scarlet fever. In 1923 he and his wife, Gladys Rowena Dick, worked out that the disease was caused by a toxin released by a strain of Streptococcus bacteria. This enabled them to create an antitoxin for treatment and vaccine for prevention. They also developed a skin test to determine a person's susceptibility to the disease.1967-10-10T00:00:00+0000Hilleman launched the work based on sample HBsAg supplied to him by Alfred Prince1968-01-01T00:00:00+0000The vaccine, RA27/3 had been developed by a team headed by Stanley Plotkin.1969-01-01T00:00:00+0000Baruch Blumberg and Irving Millman appled for the patent following pressure from the Federal government to show applications from basic research. BS Blumberg, I Millman 'Vaccine against viral hepatitis and process', US patent 3636191A1969-10-08T00:00:00+0000Stanley was an American biochemist and virologist. In 1935 he managed to crystalise the tobacco virus, the causative agent of plant disease. This was a major breakthrough because prior to this no scientists had succeeded in finding out what viruses were. His work laid the foundation for other scientists, using x-ray diffraction, to work out the precise molecular structures and reproduction process of several viruses. During World War II he managed to purify several of the most common influenza viruses and developed a vaccine that was partly effective. In 1946 he shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the 'preparation of enzymes and virus proteins in a pure form.' 1971-06-15T00:00:00+0000BS Blumberg, I Millman 'Vaccine against viral hepatitis and process', US patent 3636191A1972-01-18T00:00:00+0000Theiler was a South African trained physician who specialised in infectious diseases. He is best known for helping to show that yellow fever is caused by a virus and his development of a safe and effective vaccine against the disease. This work he did in the 1930s while based at the International Health Division of the Rockefeller Foundation. His first vaccine was used by the French government to protect the residents of French territories in Western Africa. A second one, an improved version, was launched in Brazil in 1938. Over 400 million doses of this vaccine was given out to people over the next 60 years. Theiler was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1951 for his yellow fever vaccine. 1972-08-11T00:00:00+00001975-01-01T00:00:00+0000AU Bertland, AA Tytell, GP Lampson, E Buynak, 'Method for purifying hepatitis B antigen'm US Patent US4017360A. The patent was granted 12 April 1977.1975-05-14T00:00:00+0000WJ McAleer, EH Wamuth, 'Process for isolating hepatitis b antigen', US Patent 4024243. The patent was granted 17 May 1977.1975-06-16T00:00:00+0000The study carried out in 12 chimpanzees indicated the vaccine would be safe to test in humans, MR Hilleman, EB Buynak, RR Roehm, AA Tytell, AU Bertland, 'Purified and inactivated hepatitis vaccine: Progress Report', American Journal of Medical Sciences, 279/2 (1975), 401-4.1975-09-01T00:00:00+0000Conducted among 1,083 gay men in New York. Gay men were ten times more likely to get hepatitis B than the normal population. Men injected with the vaccine were found to be 75% less likely to get hepatitis B than those who didn't get the vaccine. The trial was done by Wolf Szmuness at New York Medical Center using the vaccine produced by Hilleman at Merck. 1978-01-01T00:00:00+0000The vaccine was developed by Alfred Prince in partnership with John Vnek. Together they devised easier and less expensive purification steps than those used by Merck. The new vaccine required a tenth of the dose than Merck's vaccine. All these measures helped reduce the cost of the vaccine, which was 50 cents per dose. This compared with $90 to $100 for 3 doses of the Merck plasma vaccine. The low cost vaccine was licensed to Cheil Division of Samsung, Korea, Wuhan Institute in China and the Ministry of Healthy in Burma. 1978-01-01T00:00:00+0000The patent was filed on the basis of work undertaken by Kenneth Murray. 1978-12-22T00:00:00+0000F Galibert, E Mandart, F Fitoussi, P Tiollais, P Charnay, , 'Nucleotide sequence of the hepatitis B virus genome (subtype ayw) cloned in E. coli. Nature, 281/5733 (1979), 646-50; P. Charnay, C Pourcel, A Louise, A Fritsch, P Tiollais, 'Cloning in Escherichia coli and physical structure of hepatitis B virion DNA', PNAS USA, 76/5 (1979), 2222-26; P Charnay, E Mandart, A Hampe, F Fitoussi, P Tiollais, F Galibert, 'Localization on the viral genome and nucleotide sequence of the gene coding for the two major polypeptides of the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBs Ag)', Nucleic Acids Research, 7/2 (1979), 335-46.1979-05-01T00:00:00+0000The research was funded by Merck with the aim of developing a recombinant vaccine against hepatitis B. It was published in P Valenzuela, P Gray, M Quiroga, J Zaldivar, H M Goodman, WJ Rutter, 'Nucleotide sequence of the gene coding for the major protein of hepatitis B virus surface antigen', Nature, 280/5725 (1979), 815e819.1979-08-30T00:00:00+0000The patent was based on the work of Kenneth Murray. It was granted in July 1990 as European Patent (UK) No 0182442. 1979-12-21T00:00:00+0000The vaccine was developed by Stanley Plotkin, Hilary Koprowski and Tadeusz Wiktor at the Wistar Institute1980-01-01T00:00:00+00001980-01-01T00:00:00+0000The vaccines were made with HBsAg purified from plasma of people with chronic hepatitis B. The vaccines were Hevac B Pasteur - made by Merieux and the Pasteur Institute and Hepatavax made by Maurice Hilleman at Merck.1982-01-01T00:00:00+0000The programme, called the Hepatitis B eradication 5-year programme, used plasma-derived vaccines developed by Korean companies: Korean Green Cross, Cheil, and LG Industry. 1982-01-01T00:00:00+0000The trial was done with 37 healthy adult volunteers. The vaccine was made using HBsAg cloned in yeast. EM Scolnick, AA McLean, DJ West, WJ McAleer WJ Miller, EB Buynak, 'Clinical evaluation in healthy adults of a hepatitis B vaccine made by recombinant DNA', JAMA 251/21 (1984), 2812-15. 1984-06-01T00:00:00+0000An American microbiologist, Enders shared the 1954 Nobel Prize for helping to develop a technique to grow the poliomyeltitis virus in various types of tissue culture. This he achieved with colleagues Thomas Weller and Fredric Robbins in 1949. Their technique paved the way for Jonas Salk's development of a vaccine against polio. Enders is also renowned for having helped pioneer the first measles vaccine. 1985-09-08T00:00:00+0000The vaccine, Hepatabox, was developed by Green Cross using Prince and Vnek's technique. 1986-01-01T00:00:00+0000The vaccine was first approved in West Germany, in May, and then in the US in July. The vaccine was regarded as a breakthrough because it was made from a genetically engineered sub-particle of the virus. This made it much safer than the original vaccine which used the virus sub-particle sourced from the blood of hepatitis B sufferers. The vaccine heralded a new era for the production of vaccines and is a major weapon against one of the most infectious diseases. 1986-05-01T00:00:00+0000HepataxinB was developed by Cheil Sugar using the technique licensed from Alfred Prince and John Vnek.1986-11-01T00:00:00+00001986-12-01T00:00:00+0000The technology was developed at Merck's plant in Montgomery County, Philadelphia. The deal was initiated by Roy Vagelos, Merck's CEO. The aim was to help China deal with its major hepatitis B problem.1989-01-01T00:00:00+00001989-01-01T00:00:00+00001989-05-01T00:00:00+0000The approval was given based on results from a clinical trial carried out by Harry Herr and Herbert Oettgen. The BCG vaccine stimulates an immune response that targets both the tuberculosis bacteria and bladder cancer cells. 1990-01-01T00:00:00+00001990-01-01T00:00:00+00001993-01-01T00:00:00+0000Lipsomes carrying mRNA encoding the influenza virus nucleoprotein reported to induce T cells in mice. F Martinon, S Krishnan, G Lenzen, R Magne, E Gomard, JG Guillet, et al., European Journal Immunolology, 23 (1993) 1719–22.1993-07-01T00:00:00+00001994-01-01T00:00:00+00001994-01-01T00:00:00+0000Wyckoff was a major pioneer of x-ray crystallography of bacteria. He helped develop a high-speed centrifuge for segregating microscopic and submicroscopic material to determine the sizes and molecular weights of small particles. In addition he purified the virus that causes equine encephalomyelitis which laid the foundation for the development of a vaccine to combat an epidemic of the disease in horses. His work in this field enabled him to create a vaccine against epidemic typhus for use in World War II.1994-11-03T00:00:00+0000A medical researcher and virologist, Salk pioneered the first safe and effective polio vaccine. Introduced in 1955, Salk's vaccine helped curb one of the most frightening public health diseases in the world. Over 1,800,000 school children took part in the trial to test his vaccine. His vaccine used killed virus rather than weakened forms of the strain of polio used by Sabin to develop another vaccine against the disease. Salk refused to patent his vaccine and made his technique as widely available as possible. His polio vaccine is now on the World Health Organisation's List of Essential Medicine. 1995-06-23T00:00:00+0000Sterne pioneered a vaccine against anthrax in 1935 which effectively wiped out the disease. He used Pasteur's methods to develop the vaccine while based at Onderstepoort Veterinary Research Institute, north of Pretoria, in South Africa. His method remains the mainstay for the production of anthrax vaccines for livestock today. In addition to the vaccine he developed bacterial culture methods for both anthrax and botulism and his work laid the foundation for a number of highly successful veterinary and animal vaccines. 1997-02-26T00:00:00+00001999-01-01T00:00:00+0000The company was founded on the back of work conducted by Ingmar Hoerr.2000-01-01T00:00:00+00002001-01-01T00:00:00+00002001-01-01T00:00:00+00002003-05-01T00:00:00+0000Robbins was an American paediatrician and virologist who made his name in 1941 by helping to develop a tissue culture technique to grow the polio virus, one of the most feared diseases at the time. The method involved the growth of the virus using a mixture of human embryonic skin and muscle tissue. It provided an important step towards the development of a vaccine against polio. The tissue culture technique also helped scientists discover new respiratory viruses and paved the way to being able to culture the measles virus to make a vaccine against it. Robbins shared the 1954 Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work. 2003-08-04T00:00:00+0000Hilleman, an American microbiologist, is credited with having saved more children's lives than any other medical scientist in the 20th century. He pioneered eight out of the fourteen vaccines routinely recommended for children today. This included the vaccines for measles, mumps, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, chickenpox, meningitis, pneumonia and Haemophilus influenzae bacteria. Hilleman developed these vaccines as head of Merck & Co's virus and cell biology research department. 2005-04-11T00:00:00+0000The vaccine RotaTeq took 25 years to develop. It was developed by Stanley Plotkin, H Fred Clark and Paul Offit.2006-01-01T00:00:00+0000June Almeida was a major pioneer of electron microscopy which helped transform knowledge about virology. She is best known for taking the first electron micrograph of the rubella virus and a human coronavirus. Her work also helped uncover the structure of the hepatitis B virus which paved the way to developing a vaccine against hepatitis B. She also published some of the first high quality images of HIV. 2007-12-01T00:00:00+0000Published in 'Nature Medicine', the system deloys glycoprotein D fused with genes from target antigens to increase the immune response. The work was led by Hildegund C.J. Ertl.2008-01-31T00:00:00+00002011-01-01T00:00:00+0000Blumberg was an American physician and geneticist who won the Nobel Prize in 1976 for his discovery of a surface antigen for the hepatitis B virus. He found the antigen while conducting work on blood samples from different populations from around the world to understand genetic variations in susceptibility to disease. The antigen was first spotted testing a blood sample from a haemophiliac patient in New York against blood taken from a visiting Korean physician. Blumberg's discovery paved the way to the development of the first screen test for hepatitis B to prevent its spread in blood donations. His research also helped in the creation of the first vaccine against the disease, which to this day is the gold standard in the management of the disease.2011-04-05T00:00:00+0000A Polish-born virologist, Koprowski invented the world's first effective live polio vaccine while at Lederle Laboratories. He developed the vaccine by attenuating the virus in brain cells of a cotton rat. In January 1948 he injected the vaccine into himself. The vaccine had the advantage that it directly entered the intestinal tract and provided long-lasting immunity. Within a decade the vaccine had been adopted on four continents. Koprowski went on to become the director of the Wistar Institute where in the 1960s he led efforts to improve the rabies vaccine. He subsequently became the first scientist, together with colleagues, to hold a patent for monoclonal antibodies. Born to Jewish parents, Koprowski was forced to flee Poland in 1939 after Germany invaded the country. 2013-04-11T00:00:00+0000Vaccine developed by David Weiner together with collaborators at Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., GeneOne Life Science, Inc., National Microbiology Laboratory at the Public Health Agency of Canada, and the University of Pennsylvania.2016-06-23T00:00:00+0000The vaccine was developed by Dynavax2017-11-01T00:00:00+0000N Pardi, MJ Hogan, FW Porter, D Weismann, 'mRNA vaccines — a new era in vaccinology', Nature Reviews: Drug Discovery, 17 (2018), 261-79.2018-01-12T00:00:00+0000The vaccine was developed by BioNTech in partnership with Pfizer.2020-12-11T00:00:00+0000The vaccine was developed by Moderna. 2020-12-18T00:00:00+0000
Date Event People Places
17 May 1749Edward Jenner was born in Berkeley, UKJenner 
1797First smallpox vaccination Jenner 
26 Jan 1823Edward Jenner diedJenner 
10 Aug 1861Almroth E Wright was born in Middleton Tyas, Yorkshire, UKWrightSt Mary's Hospital
12 Jul 1863Albert Calmette was born in Nice, FranceCalmettePasteur Institute
21 Sep 1866Charles J H Nicolle was born in Rouen, FranceNicolle 
17 Nov 1878Hans Zinsser was born in New York City, USAZinsserColumbia University, Stanford University, Harvard University
1879Chicken cholera vaccine developedPasteurPasteur Institute
1885First rabies vaccine testedPasteurPasteur Institute
17 Oct 1886Ernest Goodpasture was born Clarksville, TN, USAGoodpastureHarvard University
3 Sep 1888Thomas M Rivers was born in Jonesboro, Georgia, USARiversRockefeller Institute
10 Feb 1897John F Enders was born West Hartford, CT, USAEndersChildren's Hospital Boston
9 Aug 1897Ralph W G Wyckoff was born in Geneva, NY, USAWyckoffRockefeller University, University of Michigan, University of Arizona
1899First commercial vaccine developed for treatment of sarcomaColeyMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Parke Davis & Co
30 Jan 1899Max Theiler was born in Pretoria, South AfricaTheilerPretoria, South Africa
15 Jul 1900Thomas Francis Jr was born in Gas City, Indianna, USAFrancisUniversity of Michigan
16 Aug 1904Wendell M Stanley was born in Ridgeville IN, USAStanleyRockefeller Institute
1 Jun 1905Max Sterne was born in Trieste, AustriaSterneOnderstepoort Veterinary Research Institute
28 Oct 1914Jonas Salk was born in New York City, USASalkUniversity of Pittsburgh
25 Aug 1916Frederick Chapman Robbins was born in Auburn AL, USARobbinsWestern Reserve University
5 Dec 1916Hilary Koprowski was born in Warsaw, PolandKoprowskiLederle Laboratories, Wistar Institute
30 Aug 1919Maurice Hilleman was born in Miles City, Montana, USAHillemanMerck & Co
28 Jul 1925Baruch S. Blumberg born in New York NY, USABlumbergFox Chase Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania
1927First viral vaccine developedCarrel, RiversRockefeller University
12 Oct 1928Iron lung machine used on patient for first timeDrinker Harvard Medical School
5 Oct 1930June Almeida was born in Glasgow, ScotlandAlmeidaHammersmith Postgraduate Medical School
29 Oct 1933Albert Calmette diedCalmetteInstitute Pasteur
24 Jan 1934Stanley Falkow was born in Albany, New York, USAFalkowGeorgetown University School of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Stanford University
28 Feb 1936Charles J H Nicolle diedNicolle 
1938Jaundice and hepatitis found in 3% of 3,100 recipients of yellow fever vaccineFindlay, MacCallum 
4 Sep 1940Hans Zinsser diedZinsserColumbia University, Stanford University, Harvard University
1942Yellow fever vaccine containing human serum caused massive jaundice outbreak in US armySawyer, Turner 
January 1946Largest outbreak of serum hepatitis recorded following yellow vaccine campaign 
10 Jan 1947First time polio virus was isolatedLoring, SchwerdtStanford University
30 Apr 1947Almroth E Wright diedWrightSt Mary's Hospital
23 Feb 1954Salk polio vaccine trial beganSalkUniversity of Pittsburgh
6 Oct 1956Albert Sabin announced his oral polio vaccine was ready for mass testing on an international basisAlbert SabinRockefeller Institute for Medical Research
25 Jul 1959First direct evidence of the immune system's ability to prevent cancer provided by Lloyd Old and colleaguesOld, Clarke, BenacerrafMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
20 Sep 1960Ernest Goodpasture diedGoodpastureHarvard University
12 May 1962Thomas M Rivers diedRiversRockefeller Institute
1963 - 1963Development of first attentuated measles virus vaccineEnders, Katz 
1963Creation of first vaccine against mumpsHillemanMerck & Co
10 Oct 1967George Frederick Dick diedGeorge DickRush Medical College, University of Chicago
1968Maurice Hilleman began investigating use of HBsAg to develop hepatitis B vaccine HillemanMerck
1969 - 1970First license approved in US and Europe for vaccine against rubella (German measles)PlotkinWistar Institute
8 Oct 1969Blumberg and Millman applied for patent to use HBsAg to produce hepatitis B vaccineBlumberg, MillmanFox Chase Cancer Center
15 Jun 1971Wendell M Stanley diedStanleyRockefeller Institute
18 Jan 1972Patent granted to Blumberg and Millman for making hepatitis B vaccineBlumberg, Millman 
11 Aug 1972Max Theiler diedTheiler 
1975Pasteur Institute scientists started to develop fractionation method to purify HBsAg from plasma to produce hepatitis B vaccineTiollaisPasteur Institute
14 May 1975Merck filed US patent for technique to purify hepatitis B antigenBertland, Tytell, Lampson, BuynakMerck
16 Jun 1975Merck filed US patent for process to isolate hepatitis B antigenMcAleer, WasmuthMerck
September 1975Merck reported positive results from chimpanzee trials with hepatitis B vaccine containing inactivated HBsAg antigenHilleman, Buynak, Roehm, Tytell, BertlandMerck
1978 - 1980First clinical trials with plasma vaccine against hepatitis BSzmuness, HillemanNew York Medical Center
1978 - 1986Low-cost plasma hepatitis B vaccine developedPrince, VnekNew York Blood Center
December 1978Biogen filed preliminary UK patent for technique to clone hepatitis B DNA and antigensKenneth MurrayBiogen, University of Edinburgh
May 1979 - Oct 1979Pasteur Institute scientists reported successful cloning of hepatitis B DNA in Escherichia coliGalibert, Mandart, Fitoussi, Tiollais, Charnay, HampePasteur Institute
30 Aug 1979UCSF scientists announced the successful cloning and expression of HBsAg in Escherichia coliValenzuela, Gray, Quiroga, Zaldivar, Goodman, RutterUniversity of California San Francisco, Merck
21 Dec 1979Biogen applied for European patent to clone fragment of DNA displaying hepatitis B antigen specificityMurrayBiogen
1980US licensed first rabies vaccine for human useKoprowski, Plotkin, WiktorWistar Institute
1980Pasteur Institute filed for US patent for fractionation method to purify HBsAg from plasma to produce hepatitis B vaccineTiollaisPasteur Institute
1982First plasma vaccines against hepatitis B licensed for market in US and EuropeHillemanMerieux, Institute Pasteur, Merck
1982South Korea government launched nationwide hepatitis B immunisation programme  
1 Jun 1984Genetically engineered vaccine against hepatitis B reported to have positive trial resultsScolnick, McLean, West, McAleer , Miller, BuynakMerck, University California San Francisco
8 Sep 1985John F Enders diedEndersChildren's Hospital Boston
1986Low-cost plasma vaccine against hepatitis B approved in Indonesia 
1986First genetically engineered vaccine against hepatitis B approvedScolnickMerck
November 1986Low-cost plasma hepatitis B vaccine gained approval in South KoreaPrince, VnekCheil Sugar
December 1986Genetically engineered hepatitis B vaccine, Engerix-B, approved in BelgiumSmithKline Biologicals
1989Merck sold hepatitis B vaccination manufacturing technology to Chinese government for $7millionVagelosMerck
January 1989Genetically engineered hepatitis B vaccine, Engerix-B, approved in USSmithKline Biologicals
May 1989Genetically engineered hepatitis B vaccine, GenHevac, approved in FrancePasteur Vaccins
1990US FDA approved BCG, a bacterial vaccine against tuberculosis, to treat early stage bladder cancer. It was the first FDA approved immunotherapyHerr, OettgenMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
1990Hepatitis B vaccine cost US$3 per dose 
1993Hepatitis B vaccination manufacturing plant opened in Beijing, aided by MerckMerck
July 1993First evidence that mRNA could provide a means for vaccinesMartinon, Krishnan, Lenzen, Magne, Gomard, GuilletINSERM
1994Ten years after rolling out its nationwide hepatitis B vaccination programme Taiwan reported its children's HBsAg carrier rate had reduced from 10% to less than 1% 
1994Hepatitis B vaccination manufacturing plant opened in Shenzhen, aided by Merck 
3 Nov 1994Ralph W G Wyckoff diedWyckoffUniversity of Michigan, University of Arizona
23 Jun 1995Jonas Salk diedSalkUniversity of Pittsburgh
26 Feb 1997Max Sterne diedSterneOnderstepoort Veterinary Research Institute
1999Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and the Vaccine Fund (VF) launched programme to support poor countries roll-out hepatitis B vaccination 
2000CureVac, a spin out company, set up to develop mRNA for vaccinesIngmar HoerrCureVac
2001WHO recorded that 126 (66%) of its 191 member states had universal infant or childhood hepatitis B vaccination programmes 
2001Hepatitis B vaccine cost US$0.30 per dose 
May 2003GAVI/VF reported that 48 (64%) of poor countries eligible for their support had received funding to introduce hepatitits B vaccine 
4 Aug 2003Frederick Chapman Robbins diedRobbinsWestern Reserve University
11 Apr 2005Maurice Hilleman diedHillemanMerck & Co
2006Vaccine approved for preventing rotavirus, a major kiler of children Plotkin, Clark, OffitWistar Institute
1 Dec 2007June Almeida diedAlmeidaHammersmith Postgraduate Medical School
31 Jan 2008New vaccine delivery system unveiled for preventing viral diseasesErtlWistar Institute
January 2011DNA sequencing proves useful to documenting the rapid evolution of Streptococcus pneumococci in response to the application of vaccinesWellcome Trust Sanger Institute
5 Apr 2011Baruch S. Blumberg diedblumbergFox Chase Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania
11 Apr 2013Hilary Koprowski diedKoprowskiLederle Laboratories, Wistar Institute
23 Jun 2016FDA approved first clinical trial for zika virus vaccineWeinerWistar Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, GeneOne Life Science, Public Health Agency of Canada
November 2017FDA approved a two-dose hepatitis B vaccine for use in adults aged 18 and overDynavax
12 Jan 2018mRNA flagged up as promising new vaccine technology for combating infectious diseasesPardi, Michael Hogan, Frederick Porter, Drew WeismannUniversity of Pennsylvania
11 Dec 2020FDA approved first mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 for emergency useBioNTech, Pfizer
18 Dec 2020FDA approved second mRNA vaccine for COVID-19Moderna

17 May 1749

Edward Jenner was born in Berkeley, UK

1797

First smallpox vaccination

26 Jan 1823

Edward Jenner died

10 Aug 1861

Almroth E Wright was born in Middleton Tyas, Yorkshire, UK

12 Jul 1863

Albert Calmette was born in Nice, France

21 Sep 1866

Charles J H Nicolle was born in Rouen, France

17 Nov 1878

Hans Zinsser was born in New York City, USA

1879

Chicken cholera vaccine developed

1885

First rabies vaccine tested

17 Oct 1886

Ernest Goodpasture was born Clarksville, TN, USA

3 Sep 1888

Thomas M Rivers was born in Jonesboro, Georgia, USA

10 Feb 1897

John F Enders was born West Hartford, CT, USA

9 Aug 1897

Ralph W G Wyckoff was born in Geneva, NY, USA

1899

First commercial vaccine developed for treatment of sarcoma

30 Jan 1899

Max Theiler was born in Pretoria, South Africa

15 Jul 1900

Thomas Francis Jr was born in Gas City, Indianna, USA

16 Aug 1904

Wendell M Stanley was born in Ridgeville IN, USA

1 Jun 1905

Max Sterne was born in Trieste, Austria

28 Oct 1914

Jonas Salk was born in New York City, USA

25 Aug 1916

Frederick Chapman Robbins was born in Auburn AL, USA

5 Dec 1916

Hilary Koprowski was born in Warsaw, Poland

30 Aug 1919

Maurice Hilleman was born in Miles City, Montana, USA

28 Jul 1925

Baruch S. Blumberg born in New York NY, USA

1927

First viral vaccine developed

12 Oct 1928

Iron lung machine used on patient for first time

5 Oct 1930

June Almeida was born in Glasgow, Scotland

29 Oct 1933

Albert Calmette died

24 Jan 1934

Stanley Falkow was born in Albany, New York, USA

28 Feb 1936

Charles J H Nicolle died

1938

Jaundice and hepatitis found in 3% of 3,100 recipients of yellow fever vaccine

4 Sep 1940

Hans Zinsser died

1942

Yellow fever vaccine containing human serum caused massive jaundice outbreak in US army

Jan 1946

Largest outbreak of serum hepatitis recorded following yellow vaccine campaign

10 Jan 1947

First time polio virus was isolated

30 Apr 1947

Almroth E Wright died

23 Feb 1954

Salk polio vaccine trial began

6 Oct 1956

Albert Sabin announced his oral polio vaccine was ready for mass testing on an international basis

25 Jul 1959

First direct evidence of the immune system's ability to prevent cancer provided by Lloyd Old and colleagues

20 Sep 1960

Ernest Goodpasture died

12 May 1962

Thomas M Rivers died

1963 - 1963

Development of first attentuated measles virus vaccine

1963

Creation of first vaccine against mumps

10 Oct 1967

George Frederick Dick died

1968

Maurice Hilleman began investigating use of HBsAg to develop hepatitis B vaccine

1969 - 1970

First license approved in US and Europe for vaccine against rubella (German measles)

8 Oct 1969

Blumberg and Millman applied for patent to use HBsAg to produce hepatitis B vaccine

15 Jun 1971

Wendell M Stanley died

18 Jan 1972

Patent granted to Blumberg and Millman for making hepatitis B vaccine

11 Aug 1972

Max Theiler died

1975

Pasteur Institute scientists started to develop fractionation method to purify HBsAg from plasma to produce hepatitis B vaccine

14 May 1975

Merck filed US patent for technique to purify hepatitis B antigen

16 Jun 1975

Merck filed US patent for process to isolate hepatitis B antigen

Sep 1975

Merck reported positive results from chimpanzee trials with hepatitis B vaccine containing inactivated HBsAg antigen

1978 - 1980

First clinical trials with plasma vaccine against hepatitis B

1978 - 1986

Low-cost plasma hepatitis B vaccine developed

Dec 1978

Biogen filed preliminary UK patent for technique to clone hepatitis B DNA and antigens

May 1979 - Oct 1979

Pasteur Institute scientists reported successful cloning of hepatitis B DNA in Escherichia coli

30 Aug 1979

UCSF scientists announced the successful cloning and expression of HBsAg in Escherichia coli

21 Dec 1979

Biogen applied for European patent to clone fragment of DNA displaying hepatitis B antigen specificity

1980

US licensed first rabies vaccine for human use

1980

Pasteur Institute filed for US patent for fractionation method to purify HBsAg from plasma to produce hepatitis B vaccine

1982

First plasma vaccines against hepatitis B licensed for market in US and Europe

1982

South Korea government launched nationwide hepatitis B immunisation programme

1 Jun 1984

Genetically engineered vaccine against hepatitis B reported to have positive trial results

8 Sep 1985

John F Enders died

1986

Low-cost plasma vaccine against hepatitis B approved in Indonesia

1986

First genetically engineered vaccine against hepatitis B approved

Nov 1986

Low-cost plasma hepatitis B vaccine gained approval in South Korea

Dec 1986

Genetically engineered hepatitis B vaccine, Engerix-B, approved in Belgium

1989

Merck sold hepatitis B vaccination manufacturing technology to Chinese government for $7million

Jan 1989

Genetically engineered hepatitis B vaccine, Engerix-B, approved in US

May 1989

Genetically engineered hepatitis B vaccine, GenHevac, approved in France

1990

US FDA approved BCG, a bacterial vaccine against tuberculosis, to treat early stage bladder cancer. It was the first FDA approved immunotherapy

1990

Hepatitis B vaccine cost US$3 per dose

1993

Hepatitis B vaccination manufacturing plant opened in Beijing, aided by Merck

Jul 1993

First evidence that mRNA could provide a means for vaccines

1994

Ten years after rolling out its nationwide hepatitis B vaccination programme Taiwan reported its children's HBsAg carrier rate had reduced from 10% to less than 1%

1994

Hepatitis B vaccination manufacturing plant opened in Shenzhen, aided by Merck

3 Nov 1994

Ralph W G Wyckoff died

23 Jun 1995

Jonas Salk died

26 Feb 1997

Max Sterne died

1999

Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and the Vaccine Fund (VF) launched programme to support poor countries roll-out hepatitis B vaccination

2000

CureVac, a spin out company, set up to develop mRNA for vaccines

2001

WHO recorded that 126 (66%) of its 191 member states had universal infant or childhood hepatitis B vaccination programmes

2001

Hepatitis B vaccine cost US$0.30 per dose

May 2003

GAVI/VF reported that 48 (64%) of poor countries eligible for their support had received funding to introduce hepatitits B vaccine

4 Aug 2003

Frederick Chapman Robbins died

11 Apr 2005

Maurice Hilleman died

2006

Vaccine approved for preventing rotavirus, a major kiler of children

1 Dec 2007

June Almeida died

31 Jan 2008

New vaccine delivery system unveiled for preventing viral diseases

Jan 2011

DNA sequencing proves useful to documenting the rapid evolution of Streptococcus pneumococci in response to the application of vaccines

5 Apr 2011

Baruch S. Blumberg died

11 Apr 2013

Hilary Koprowski died

23 Jun 2016

FDA approved first clinical trial for zika virus vaccine

Nov 2017

FDA approved a two-dose hepatitis B vaccine for use in adults aged 18 and over

12 Jan 2018

mRNA flagged up as promising new vaccine technology for combating infectious diseases

11 Dec 2020

FDA approved first mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 for emergency use

18 Dec 2020

FDA approved second mRNA vaccine for COVID-19

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