10 July 2006

PowderMed set to test needle-free bird flu vaccine?|?Reuters.com

LONDON, July 10 (Reuters) - British biotech firm PowderMed
Ltd has filed for permission to start the first human clinical
tests of a needle-free vaccine against the avian flu virus, it
said on Monday. The experimental vaccine will target the deadly H5N1 strain
of bird flu, which has spread rapidly through poultry flocks and
has killed 131 people around the world since 2003. Unlike conventional flu vaccines, PowderMed's product uses
fragments of virus DNA to stimulate immunity and tiny particles
are blasted into the skin instead of using a needle. A finished
product is still several years away, however. The first-time-in-man clinical trial will be conducted at a
clinical research unit in London and will examine the ability of
a vaccine based upon the Vietnam H5N1 avian influenza strain to
protect against a potential pandemic form of flu.




Previous studies have shown the vaccine technology produces
100 percent immune responses against normal seasonal flu and
PowderMed hopes for a similar response with H5N1. Its vaccine is produced by copying a gene from the virus and
enclosing it in tiny gold particles. It is delivered using an
injector powered by concentrated helium gas, which pushes the
particles into the skin. The privately-held firm believes vaccines delivered in this
way may produce better immunity than conventional ones. Current
flu vaccines are based on 50-year-old technology that requires
live chicken eggs and six months of brewing time. Several companies that make traditional flu vaccines are
also working on H5N1 vaccines, including Sanofi Aventis SA
(SASY.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Novartis AG (NOVN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research)
unit Chiron. Governments want to encourage companies that can produce
better vaccines in less time. They hope an influenza pandemic
does not come in the meantime, but fear the H5N1 virus could
evolve into a pandemic strain of flu at any time."