Clinical trials are underway to test a gluten-free vaccine.

Close to 160,000 Australians suffer from gluten intolerant and coeliac disease, Ross Greenwood being one of them.

After a long-awaited promise of a vaccine, it now seems after enormous research, much of it pioneered here in Australia, we’re not far off.

The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research has been instrumental in the research.

Head of Coeliac Research Doctor Jason Tye-Din says while it’s a breakthrough, there’s still a ways to go.

“Currently the only treatment of those people with coeliac disease is lifetime strict gluten-free diet,” he tells Ross Greenwood.

“But we know it doesn’t work all that well and many people still suffer on-going symptoms or problems.

Dr Tye-Din says there’s a variety of treatment approaches that are being explored, but they need to pass clinical studies to “prove they’re going to be effective”

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview