sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
April 10, 2007 <!--date ends here-->
Flu vaccine grown in caterpillar virus
By HELEN BRANSWELL
TORONTO (CP) - Harnessing the protein production power of a virus that normally infects caterpillars may be a way of the future for the manufacture of flu vaccine.
American researchers reported Tuesday that flu vaccine grown in caterpillar cells infected with modified baculoviruses was safe and protective against influenza.
If brought to market, the vaccine would be a useful option for people with egg allergies, who can't get a regular flu shot because the virus contained in those shots is grown in hen's eggs.
Experts say this mode of production also offers the hope that flu vaccine production could be massively scaled up to help meet a global need for vaccine when the next influenza pandemic strikes.
The experimental vaccine is made by Protein Sciences Corp., based in Meriden, CT. The study is part of the dossier the company is amassing to submit to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for licensing approval of the vaccine.
The study was published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Lead author Dr. John Treanor says other vaccines are grown this way, including one to protect against the human papillomavirus, which causes cervical cancer.
Treanor, a vaccine expert at the University of Rochester, N.Y., says the evidence to date suggests using flu protein grown in baculovirus-infected cells is a viable alternative to egg-based vaccine production.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2007/04/10/3972301-cp.html
Flu vaccine grown in caterpillar virus
By HELEN BRANSWELL
TORONTO (CP) - Harnessing the protein production power of a virus that normally infects caterpillars may be a way of the future for the manufacture of flu vaccine.
American researchers reported Tuesday that flu vaccine grown in caterpillar cells infected with modified baculoviruses was safe and protective against influenza.
If brought to market, the vaccine would be a useful option for people with egg allergies, who can't get a regular flu shot because the virus contained in those shots is grown in hen's eggs.
Experts say this mode of production also offers the hope that flu vaccine production could be massively scaled up to help meet a global need for vaccine when the next influenza pandemic strikes.
The experimental vaccine is made by Protein Sciences Corp., based in Meriden, CT. The study is part of the dossier the company is amassing to submit to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for licensing approval of the vaccine.
The study was published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Lead author Dr. John Treanor says other vaccines are grown this way, including one to protect against the human papillomavirus, which causes cervical cancer.
Treanor, a vaccine expert at the University of Rochester, N.Y., says the evidence to date suggests using flu protein grown in baculovirus-infected cells is a viable alternative to egg-based vaccine production.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2007/04/10/3972301-cp.html
