[Ip-health] GSK announces avian flu vaccine breakthrough

[Ira Glazer]

http://business.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,329538452-108725,00.html

Mark Tran
Wednesday July 26, 2006

The UK drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline today announced a breakthrough in the
development of a vaccine against the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu.

GSK said test results had shown that its H5N1 pandemic flu vaccine was
more effective than any other vaccines to date. With today's
announcement, GSK has moved into pole position in the race to find a
"blockbuster" weapon against H5N1.

The H5N1 virus has spread from Asia and has killed more than 130 people
who caught it from infected birds. Although the number of deaths has
been low, the fear is that H5N1 could mutate into a virus that can pass
from human to human, raising the risk of a pandemic that could kill
millions. Spain this month reported the discovery of its first case of
H5N1 in a wild bird.

Europe's biggest pharmaceutical firm unveiled its breakthrough after a
clinical trial in Belgium involving 400 healthy adults aged 18 to 60.

Through the use of additives called adjuvants - ingredients that
stimulate the immune system and increase response to the injection - GSK
found its vaccine achieved a high immune response at a low dose.

This would make the vaccine faster and cheaper to produce, yielding
bigger profits.

"These excellent clinical trial results represent a significant
breakthrough in the development of our pandemic flu vaccine. This is the
first time such a low dose of H5N1 antigen has been able to stimulate
this level of strong immune response," said JP Garnier, GSK's chief
executive.

Asked if the vaccine could deal with a mutation in the virus that made
it transferable from human to human, Mr Garnier told the BBC's Today
programme: "If you had a mutation that is closely connected to the H5N1
virus, the answer is probably yes. If the virus jumps away from H5N1 to
a completely different kind of virus, then the answer is our vaccine
would probably not be effective.

"But the work that we have done would be very helpful because we would
be in a position now to immediately produce the new vaccine as soon as
we have identified the new virus."

GSK said there was much more work to be done but results so far had
given it confidence to continue the work. It expects to apply for
regulatory approval within months.

Mr Garnier said GSK did not know how much it would cost to make as it
had yet to "industrialise the process".

But he estimated =A34 a dose, which would making it prohibitively
expensive in developing countries. Mr Garnier said GSK has been holding
talks with the Gates foundation, set up by the Microsoft billionaire
Bill Gates and his wife Melinda. The foundation has committed hundreds
of millions of dollars to fighting diseases such as HIV/Aids.