Helicobacter pylori vaccine development: Facing the challenge

Human trials of H. pylori vaccines are going ahead but although at least some formulations are clearly immunogenic, their effectiveness remains untested. The recent development of a human challenge model has now opened up new prospects for testing candidate vaccines and this will undoubtedly have a great impact in the near future. Future priorities for H. pylori vaccine development must be a better understanding of the protective mechanisms and the identification of biomarkers which can be used as reliable predictors of efficacy in humans. Despite some important advances in recent years, important issues must be resolved before an H. pylori vaccine will become a reality.