cultures used for the vaccine. They identified a Gram-positive Lactobacillus with a tendency to polymorphism commonly present in the accompanying flora of trichomoniasis patients. To test their assumption, further 700 patients each received treatment with an inactivated bacterial vaccine composed of one of 16 such polymorphic Lactobacillus strains. The effect was studied on eight patient groups with the following conditions: (1) colpitis, including trichomonal colpitis (2) erythroplakia (3) endocervicitis (4) upper genital tract infection (5) urinary tract infection (6) infertility (7) genital lesions and tumors (8) trichomoniasis during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum period. Treatment with the experimental bacterial vaccines was capable to eliminate trichomoniasis in 28% of infected patients and resolved or alleviated many of the examined urogenital conditions. After this initial breakthrough, Újhelyi and his coworkers directed their efforts into the development and optimization of Gynevac, a composite bacterial vaccine, containing five aberrant, polymorphic Lactobacillus strains. Erika Lázár, a Hungarian gynaecologist and specialist in the field of reproductive medicine, and her coworkers performed many of the clinical trials on Gynevac, focusing clinical and research interest on the prevention of ascending infections during pregnancy. In two prospective studies performed between 1976 and 1982 in rural, socioeconomically disadvantaged Kazincbarcika with the enrollment of nearly 3500 pregnant women, lactobacillus vaccination appeared to reduce the incidence of preterm birth by about 40%. 1980-2012 In 1975 the research group of Újhelyi sold the unpatented technology to Solco Basel AG, a Swiss pharmaceutical company with the agreement, that Solco would manufacture and market the vaccine in Western Europe, whereas the Hungarian company HUMÁN Oltóanyagtermelő Vállalat (later Vakcina Kft.) would supply the Eastern markets ("Soviet Bloc"). In 1980 Solco's researchers patented the vaccine; in 1981 the company obtained regulatory approval and started marketing the vaccine under the trade name SolcoTrichovac. After prolonged clinical trials, mainly driven by Lázár, the production and marketing of Gynevac started in Hungary in 1997. After Solco's acquisition of the technology, mainly Swiss and German researchers have joined the investigations. In 1980 Mario Litschgi reported a cure rate of trichomoniasis of 92.5% in a clinical study with 427 female participants. Following this initial success, a number of studies have been conducted on the vaccine. Most of the reports can be found in the proceedings of two symposia: the Symposium on Trichomoniasis (1981) featured investigations with Trichomonas vaginalis-infected women and mainly clinical results, whereas the Symposia on the Immunotherapy of Vaginal Infections (1983)