Baxter Says Trial Vaccine Works Against Deadliest Bird Flu

[Gert van der Hoek]

Baxter Says Trial Vaccine Works Against Deadliest Bird Flu

By Simeon Bennett

Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Baxter International Inc. said its trial vaccine against an Indonesian strain of avian influenza was safe and effective in a human study, the first time a vaccine has been developed against the virus's deadliest strain.

Findings released today showed the experimental vaccine, derived from an Indonesian victim who died after infection with the strain of H5N1 bird flu in 2005, induced protection in more than 90 percent of healthy volunteers even at the lowest dose.

The vaccine will probably also protect against other Indonesian strains of the virus that together have caused the most deaths, said Hartmut Ehrlich, vice president of global research and development for Baxter's bioscience unit.

``We are very excited about these results,'' Ehrlich said in a presentation at a conference in Bangkok today.

Drugmakers, including Deerfield, Illinois-based Baxter and London-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc, are seeking to tap demand for pandemic flu shots amid concern that H5N1 may mutate into a highly contagious and lethal human influenza virus capable of triggering a global flu pandemic. As many as 50 million people may have died in the so-called Spanish influenza of 1918, and health officials say another worldwide pandemic is inevitable.

Of the 206 people who have died after infection with H5N1 since late 2003, 91 were in Indonesia, according to the World Health Organization.

Baxter tested its two-dose vaccine in about 110 people, in Hong Kong and Singapore. The company presented results of the Singapore trial at the World Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases conference, in Bangkok today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Simeon Bennett in Singapore at sbennett9@bloomberg.net .

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601202&sid=aG2tijHRmAEM&refer=healthcare

 

[vinny]

Re: Baxter Says Trial Vaccine Works Against Deadliest Bird Flu

i thought they couldnt make a vaccine until they new what the pandemic strain was...............?

 

[tropical]

Re: Baxter Says Trial Vaccine Works Against Deadliest Bird Flu

i thought they couldnt make a vaccine until they new what the pandemic strain was...............?

The upper is worth only for an identic match of the pandemic virus strain <-> pandemic vaccine.
They could very well make experimental PRE-pandemic vaccines, based on existing strains, but NOT matched.
Experimentaly there are some suggestions that that kind of vaccines will give some protection based on cross-protection.

The problem is that the gov/comps don't want pay/make enaugh pre-pandemic vaccines (which must be thrown later, maybe) beacause of "vasting" money and product capacities, for an pre-pandemic vaccine which maybe will not give enaugh protection for the real pandemic emergent strain.

But, obviously, with that kind of policy the minority will have access to an pre-pandemic vaccine, but the majority will be on "god will", because they must wait 4-6 months (with today technology) to maybe get some pandemic vaccine.
That will change only if "they" will produce enaugh PRE-pandemic vaccine to the whole humanity before the onset of an pandemic of flu, or invent and implement an inovative technology which will be able to make 6,5 bilion PANDEMIC vaccines inducing fast imunization in supp. ~10 days (supp. time of incubation/propagation), from the start of an epidemic of novel pandemic flu strain.