Helicobacter pylori is now accepted as the aetiological agent in peptic ulcer disease and has been characterised as a grade I carcinogen. The development of an effective vaccine is therefore desirable, although effective therapies for the eradication of the organism are available. The first step towards the developmetn of an anti-H. pylori vaccine was initiated by the demonstrion that a sonicate of H. felis can protect mice against infection with H. felis. Urease has been identified in the mouse model as a protective antigen. Other virulence factors, such as vacuolate cytotoxin and a heat shoek protein of H-Pylori, have been investigated as candidate vaccine components by the development of a new H. pylori mouse model. Vaccine adjuvants. delivery systems and therapeutic vaccination are likely to be the areas of major progress in the future.