High-volume vaccine against avian influenza is a step closer

Clinical trials for new effective culture-based vaccine against avian influenza viruses should begin in Norway in Spring 2006. Sanofi Pasteur's novel flu vaccine using Crucell's PERC6 cell-culture technology is going to be the first one developed using human cell production technology to enter clinical trials in Europe. It is essential to develop less time demanding and more economical production method for producing new vaccines in large quantities to combat a potential future influenza pandemic. Influenza vaccines are currently produced by using embryonated chicken eggs but Crucell's novel PER.C6 technology uses cell culture for the production (the virus is grown on specially selected cell lines). Once the virus strain has been identified, this cell culture process is believed to reduce the start-up time for manufacturing from four to two or three weeks. Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines subsidiary of Sanofi-Aventis, is market leader in the production and marketing of influenza vaccines. Dutch biotechnology company Crucell collaborates with Sanofi Pasteur for influenza vaccines, the US National Institutes of Health for Ebola and malaria vaccines, and GlaxoSmithKline, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and New York University for a malaria vaccine, all based on it's PER.C6 technology. For more information please click "here":[ http://www.in-pharmatechnologist.com].

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