Harvey J Alter, Charles M Rice & Michael Houghton win Nobel Prize in Medicine 2020 for discovery of Hepatitis C virus

Harvey J Alter, Charles M Rice & Michael Houghton wins Nobel Prize in Medicine 2020 for discovery of Hepatitis C virus

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2020: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2020 was awarded jointly to the Americans Harvey J Alter, Charles M Rice & British scientist Michael Houghton for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2020

1. Harvey J. Alter
2. Michael Houghton
3. Charles M. Rice

This year’s Nobel Prize is awarded to three scientists who have made a decisive contribution to the fight against blood-borne hepatitis, a major global health problem that causes cirrhosis and liver cancer in people around the world.

The head of the Nobel Committee, Thomas Perlmann, announced the winners in Stockholm. The prestigious award comes with a gold medal and prize money of 10 million Swedish kronor (over $1,118,000), courtesy of a bequest left 124 years ago by the prize's creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.

The medicine prize carries particular significance this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has highlighted the importance that medical research has for societies and economies around the world.