Patent ID: 7871625

Claim:
A modified hepatitis C virus (HCV) multiple epitope fusion antigen (MEFA), wherein said MEFA comprises at least one epitope from the HCV helicase domain that comprises an HCV NS3 proteolytic cleavage site, and at least one epitope from an NS4 region that comprises an HCV NS3 proteolytic cleavage site, wherein the HCV NS3 proteolytic cleavage sites present in said helicase domain epitope and said NS4 epitope are mutated, such that proteolytic cleavage of the modified MEFA by NS3 is inhibited relative to proteolytic cleavage of a corresponding MEFA lacking the mutations, and further wherein said modified MEFA reacts specifically with anti-HCV antibodies present in a biological sample from an HCV-infected individual, wherein the MEFA comprises a sequence of amino acids with at least 90% sequence identity to the contiguous sequence of amino acids depicted in SEQ ID NO:4, with the proviso that the amino acids at positions 466, 467, 493, 494, 695, 696, 721, 722, 770, 771, 819 and 820 of SEQ ID NO:4 are maintained.