Snowy Owl
Retired in 2010, In Memoriam
U.S., Canada explore flu vaccine supplies
By mixing flu pandemic vaccine with proprietary boosters, researchers with the U.S. government hope to have enough vaccine to protect people in case of a flu pandemic.
The plan is to mix vaccine from some companies with the booster adjuvants ? chemicals that enhance the effect of a vaccine's active ingredient ? of competitors to increase the global supply of influenza vaccine.
The U.S. government is interested in trying the approach, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
"Certainly, if the companies are ? willing to partner with and utilize what we can bring to the table, which is a clinical trial network and people who have expertise in clinical trials," said Fauci.
Companies would need to reveal the secret ingredients of their adjuvants because researchers don't want to blindly mix components together, Fauci cautioned.
At least two drug companies, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur, said they are willing to explore the option of mixing vaccine from one company with the adjuvant of a competitor.
Canada to stockpile vaccine
In Canada, the federal government is planning to stockpile millions of doses of bird flu vaccine to protect chickens in case of a major outbreak of avian influenza.
In spring 2004, Canada's biggest outbreak of avian influenza hit British Columbia, and 17 million birds were destroyed. In the aftermath, people in the poultry industry accused the Canadian Food Inspection Agency of being ill prepared.
Since then, the industry and government said they have developed ways of coping with future outbreaks, such as stockpiling 11 million doses of the bird flu vaccine.
The vaccine would be used in a worst-case scenario, said Francois Caya, a veterinarian with CFIA. "Standard disease control strategies such as destruction of infected birds and pre-emptive slaughter of contact birds have been quite efficient."
The vaccine would be used on rare ducks, geese and chickens as well as breeders and egg layers, Caya added.
The vaccine stockpiles "would probably guarantee" that an outbreak of avian influenza is contained within a certain area, said Errol Halkai, general manager of the Canadian Broiler Hatching Egg Marketing Agency, which represents farmers with birds that produce broiler chickens.
Starting in May, the federal government said it will buy the vaccine from a U.S. company, but the cost is unknown. The vaccine can be stored for up to three years without losing its potency.
<CITE class=source>With files from the Canadian Press</CITE>
By mixing flu pandemic vaccine with proprietary boosters, researchers with the U.S. government hope to have enough vaccine to protect people in case of a flu pandemic.
The plan is to mix vaccine from some companies with the booster adjuvants ? chemicals that enhance the effect of a vaccine's active ingredient ? of competitors to increase the global supply of influenza vaccine.
The U.S. government is interested in trying the approach, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
"Certainly, if the companies are ? willing to partner with and utilize what we can bring to the table, which is a clinical trial network and people who have expertise in clinical trials," said Fauci.
Companies would need to reveal the secret ingredients of their adjuvants because researchers don't want to blindly mix components together, Fauci cautioned.
At least two drug companies, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur, said they are willing to explore the option of mixing vaccine from one company with the adjuvant of a competitor.
Canada to stockpile vaccine
In Canada, the federal government is planning to stockpile millions of doses of bird flu vaccine to protect chickens in case of a major outbreak of avian influenza.
In spring 2004, Canada's biggest outbreak of avian influenza hit British Columbia, and 17 million birds were destroyed. In the aftermath, people in the poultry industry accused the Canadian Food Inspection Agency of being ill prepared.
Since then, the industry and government said they have developed ways of coping with future outbreaks, such as stockpiling 11 million doses of the bird flu vaccine.
The vaccine would be used in a worst-case scenario, said Francois Caya, a veterinarian with CFIA. "Standard disease control strategies such as destruction of infected birds and pre-emptive slaughter of contact birds have been quite efficient."
The vaccine would be used on rare ducks, geese and chickens as well as breeders and egg layers, Caya added.
The vaccine stockpiles "would probably guarantee" that an outbreak of avian influenza is contained within a certain area, said Errol Halkai, general manager of the Canadian Broiler Hatching Egg Marketing Agency, which represents farmers with birds that produce broiler chickens.
Starting in May, the federal government said it will buy the vaccine from a U.S. company, but the cost is unknown. The vaccine can be stored for up to three years without losing its potency.
<CITE class=source>With files from the Canadian Press</CITE>