ID Biomedical begins development of pandemic influenza vaccine
19 1월 2005 - 11:15PM
PR Newswire (US)
ID Biomedical begins development of pandemic influenza vaccine
VANCOUVER, Jan. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ID Biomedical
Corporation (TSX: IDB; NASDAQ: IDBE) announced today that it has
begun development of an experimental ("mock") vaccine against a
strain of the influenza virus, H5N1, that experts believe could
cause a deadly worldwide epidemic (pandemic) of influenza. The H5N1
strain is a new strain of influenza virus that humans have little
or no resistance to and has resulted in high rates of illness and
death. ID Biomedical's development efforts will concentrate on
creating a vaccine using a genetically modified variant of the H5N1
strain. Since January 2004, sporadic outbreaks of highly pathogenic
bird (avian) influenza caused by an H5N1 influenza strain have
occurred in South East Asia. Occasional transmission of the virus
directly from birds to human has resulted in a high mortality rate
in those infected. To date, all humans infected have contracted the
virus directly from birds and there is no conclusive evidence of
human to human transmission that could lead to an influenza
pandemic. ID Biomedical has obtained the genetically modified rH5N1
reference strain from the National Institute for Biological
Standards and Control (NIBSC) in the U.K. NIBSC is one of the few
World Health Organization (WHO) selected laboratories in the world,
which conducts experimental work aimed at producing pandemic
reference strains for potential vaccine production. The reverse
genetics technology used by NIBSC allows the rH5N1 strain to be
grown in chicken eggs, an important source of influenza vaccine
production. Typically, because of their virulence, pandemic avian
strains kill eggs, therefore making it impossible to produce a
vaccine from this source. The genetic modification of the virus
also weakens its virulence so that it is no more dangerous than the
influenza strains used by manufacturers during annual influenza
production. The initial objective of the Company's development
program is to optimize the conditions under which the rH5N1 virus
grows in eggs and to develop a virus seed bank for future vaccine
production. The work will be conducted by ID Biomedical at its
Quebec manufacturing facility. The second phase of this pandemic
preparedness program is to produce a "mock" vaccine in sufficient
quantities to conduct clinical trials. ID Biomedical is currently
in discussions with the Canadian Government with regard to funding
this important program. "The successful completion of this
development program will position Canada and ID Biomedical as
worldwide leaders in pandemic preparedness. There is a growing
consensus among experts supported by the WHO that the development
and testing of a mock pandemic vaccine is a critical component of
pandemic preparedness because it will allow manufacturers to
shorten production times, thereby providing the general public with
vaccine more quickly. The speed at which we will make the vaccine
available to people will have a direct impact on the number of
lives saved. We are very proud to be the official Canadian pandemic
vaccine supplier and to be at the forefront of the preparedness
work," said Anthony Holler, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of ID
Biomedical. In October 2001, the Company announced that it had
signed a ten-year contract with the Canadian Government to assure a
state of readiness in case of an influenza pandemic. The contract
requires that ID Biomedical develop the infrastructure and
capacity, in Canada, to provide 100 % of domestic vaccine needs in
the event of an influenza pandemic. To fulfill its commitments to
this contract, ID Biomedical is currently completing an expansion
of its production facility, has secured a year-round supply of eggs
and has stockpiled raw materials and supplies necessary to permit
rapid vaccine production. About Influenza and Pandemics Each year,
the World Health Organization identifies the influenza strains
expected to be circulating worldwide. It then recommends which
three flu strains should be incorporated into the annual vaccine.
The new strains are then distributed to vaccine producers who
manufacture the appropriate trivalent vaccine for the year.
Periodically, an entirely different strain of flu virus emerges
that is more pathogenic to the respiratory system of humans. This
can cause an influenza pandemic because the human immune system has
little or no defense against the new virus. In such cases, the
rapid production of a new pandemic flu vaccine is the best method
of providing protection to the population. Influenza pandemics are
cyclical. In the twentieth century, there were three influenza
pandemics: the Spanish flu in 1918, which claimed at least 20
million lives, the Asian flu in 1957, that killed more than 70,000
North Americans and the Hong Kong flu in 1968 which was responsible
for the deaths of 34,000 people in North America. About ID
Biomedical ID Biomedical is an integrated biotechnology company
dedicated to the development of innovative vaccine products. It
operates in research, development, manufacturing, sales and
marketing from its facilities in Canada and in the United States.
ID Biomedical is dedicated to becoming a premier vaccine company
with significant marketed products worldwide and an extensive
pipeline in both clinical and preclinical development. ID
Biomedical has a leading position in the Canadian influenza market.
It received a ten-year mandate from the Government of Canada in
2001 to assure a state of readiness in the case of an influenza
pandemic and provide influenza vaccine for all Canadians in such an
event. It also currently supplies approximately 75% of the Canadian
government's influenza vaccine purchases. For further information
on ID Biomedical, please visit the Company's website at
http://www.idbiomedical.com/. The information in this news release
contains so-called "forward-looking" statements. These include
statements regarding ID Biomedical's expectations and plans
relating to the closing of the loan transaction and the repurchase
of the subscription receipts described herein, statements about ID
Biomedical's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies for
the future, which may be indicated by words or phrases such as
"anticipate", "expect", "intend", "plan", "will", "we believe", "ID
Biomedical believes", "management believes", and similar language.
All forward-looking statements are based on ID Biomedical's current
expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties and to
assumptions made. Important factors that could cause actual results
to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements include: (i) the company's ability to
successfully integrate the Shire vaccine business; (ii) the
company's ability to successfully complete preclinical and clinical
development of its products; (iii) the company's ability to
manufacture its products; (iv) the seasonality of the flu-vaccine
business and related fluctuations in the company's revenues from
quarter to quarter; (v) decisions, and the timing of decisions,
made by the health regulatory agencies regarding approval of its
products for human testing; (vi) the company's ability to enter
into distribution agreements for its products, and to complete and
maintain corporate alliances relating to the development and
commercialization of its technology and products; (vii) market
acceptance of its technologies and products; and (viii) the
competitive environment and impact of technological change and
other risks detailed in the company's filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. ID Biomedical bases its forward-looking
statements on information currently available to it, and assumes no
obligation to update them. For further information, please contact:
Investor Relations / Media: Dean Linden (604) 431-9314 Michele Roy
(450) 978-6313 DATASOURCE: ID Biomedical Corporation CONTACT:
Investor Relations / Media: Dean Linden, (604) 431-9314, ; Michele
Roy, (450) 978-6313, ; To request a free copy of this
organization's annual report, please go to http://www.newswire.ca/
and click on reports@cnw.
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