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http://www.todayonline.com/articles/106605.asp
This is a better link http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060314/hl_afp/healthfluhungary - with complete text below
Hungarian researchers find H5N1 bird flu vaccine for humans: PM 1 hour, 40 minutes ago [AFP]
Hungarian researchers have devised a vaccine for humans against the current form of the H5N1 bird flu virus, Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said.
This vaccine was developed by the Hungarian company Omnivest and has been approved by the country's pharmaceutical authorities, he told a press conference at the firm's laboratories at Bilsborosjeno, near Budapest.
The vaccine however only works on the current form of the H5N1 virus and is not intended as a shield against a feared mutated form.
Showing journalists a vial of the vaccine, Gyurcsany said it "contains six micrograms (of an active agent), enough for one person to be immunised against the H5N1 virus."
"This is a product manufactured from an aluminium and phosphate viral gel, of which nobody else at the moment has the (production) technology" he added.
The vaccine would be used to protect people working in close proximity to diseased birds.
"If the virus were to mutate, we would not have to experiment with new technology but would be able to manufacture a real vaccine within eight weeks," Gyurcsany said Tuesday.
"What is even more important, our national pharmaceutical institute (OGYI) has given us the green light to commercialise" the vaccine in Hungary, he said.
In its present form, H5N1 is transmissible amongst birds, and humans can catch it if they are close to fowl which carry the virus.
But it cannot be transmitted from human to human. The fear is that the virus may acquire the genes to do this, triggering a global pandemic.
Hungarian researchers have been working for six month to manufacture a vaccine against the current form of H5N1. In October, Hungarian Health Minister Jeno Racz said a prototype vaccine being developed in Hungary for use against the deadly Asian strain of bird flu had produced positive results on humans.
"Clinical trials gave positive results, the blood of the (human) guinea-pigs produced antibodies," Racz then said.
Developing a prototype vaccine is a necessary step towards rapidly manufacturing a real vaccine against the potentially deadly H5N1 virus, in the event it mutates to a form that can be transmitted from human to human, thus causing a possible pandemic.
At the time, French pharmaceutical group Sanofi-Aventis, also developing a bird flu vaccine, claimed the Hungarian prototype "did not meet standards" of the European Medicines Agency and would only be valid in Hungary.
In 1993, Hungary signed a contract with Omnivest to manufacture vaccines in large quantities.
The Hungarian prototype has been in development since late September, based on a strain of the H5N1 virus which appeared in Hong Kong in 1997 and which the World Health Organisation found in a human in southeast Asia at the start of 2005.
Hungary, which joined the European Union in May 2004 has a long tradition of medical achievements. In 2004, exports of pharmaceutical products increased by 39 percent compared to 2003, according to official figures.
This is a better link http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060314/hl_afp/healthfluhungary - with complete text below
Hungarian researchers find H5N1 bird flu vaccine for humans: PM 1 hour, 40 minutes ago [AFP]
Hungarian researchers have devised a vaccine for humans against the current form of the H5N1 bird flu virus, Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said.
This vaccine was developed by the Hungarian company Omnivest and has been approved by the country's pharmaceutical authorities, he told a press conference at the firm's laboratories at Bilsborosjeno, near Budapest.
The vaccine however only works on the current form of the H5N1 virus and is not intended as a shield against a feared mutated form.
Showing journalists a vial of the vaccine, Gyurcsany said it "contains six micrograms (of an active agent), enough for one person to be immunised against the H5N1 virus."
"This is a product manufactured from an aluminium and phosphate viral gel, of which nobody else at the moment has the (production) technology" he added.
The vaccine would be used to protect people working in close proximity to diseased birds.
"If the virus were to mutate, we would not have to experiment with new technology but would be able to manufacture a real vaccine within eight weeks," Gyurcsany said Tuesday.
"What is even more important, our national pharmaceutical institute (OGYI) has given us the green light to commercialise" the vaccine in Hungary, he said.
In its present form, H5N1 is transmissible amongst birds, and humans can catch it if they are close to fowl which carry the virus.
But it cannot be transmitted from human to human. The fear is that the virus may acquire the genes to do this, triggering a global pandemic.
Hungarian researchers have been working for six month to manufacture a vaccine against the current form of H5N1. In October, Hungarian Health Minister Jeno Racz said a prototype vaccine being developed in Hungary for use against the deadly Asian strain of bird flu had produced positive results on humans.
"Clinical trials gave positive results, the blood of the (human) guinea-pigs produced antibodies," Racz then said.
Developing a prototype vaccine is a necessary step towards rapidly manufacturing a real vaccine against the potentially deadly H5N1 virus, in the event it mutates to a form that can be transmitted from human to human, thus causing a possible pandemic.
At the time, French pharmaceutical group Sanofi-Aventis, also developing a bird flu vaccine, claimed the Hungarian prototype "did not meet standards" of the European Medicines Agency and would only be valid in Hungary.
In 1993, Hungary signed a contract with Omnivest to manufacture vaccines in large quantities.
The Hungarian prototype has been in development since late September, based on a strain of the H5N1 virus which appeared in Hong Kong in 1997 and which the World Health Organisation found in a human in southeast Asia at the start of 2005.
Hungary, which joined the European Union in May 2004 has a long tradition of medical achievements. In 2004, exports of pharmaceutical products increased by 39 percent compared to 2003, according to official figures.
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