Vaccine against viral hepatitis and process. Serial No. 864,788 filed 10 /8 /[19]69. Patent 3636191 issued 1/ 18/ [19]72.

First description of the hepatitis B vaccine, the first cancer vaccine, US patent 3636191A. Millman and Blumberg discovered that the blood of individuals carrying the hepatitis B virus contained particles of the outside coating of the virus. This coating, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), is not infectious; however, HBsAg can provoke an immune response. To develop a vaccine, Millman and Blumberg invented a method of detaching the coatings from the virus. See B. S. Blumberg, editor, Hepatitis B and the Prevention of Primary Cancer of the Liver. Selected Publications of Baruch S. Blumberg. (2000). See also I. Millman, T. Eisenstein & B. Blumberg, Hepatitis B: The Virus, the Disease, and the Vaccine. (New York: Plenum Press, 1984).