Novavax bird flu vaccine shows promise in trial

A new bird flu vaccine developed by Novavax from insect cell cultures proved effective in spurring an immune response in a human trial. The Rockville, MD-based developer has been pursuing a partnership with General Electric to advance a new flu vaccine that could be swiftly produced in large quantities. Researchers were testing its virus-like particle vaccine candidate in the second stage of a Phase I/II trial involving 160 patients.

Among those individuals in the 15 mcg arm, 72 percent had a neutralizing antibody titer of 1:20 or greater (four-fold rise from baseline) against the H5N1 A/Indonesia strain as did 73 percent of subjects in the 45 mcg arm and 94 percent of subjects in the 90 mcg arm.

"These data are exciting because they demonstrate that recombinant VLPs are a valid and potent vaccine approach against influenza. Combined with our innovative manufacturing approach, our VLP vaccine candidate has the potential to address an unmet need in pandemic influenza preparedness efforts being planned by health authorities around the world," said Dr. Rahul Singhvi, president and CEO of Novavax.

- check out Novavax's release

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