Adjuvants and the Companies Who Make Bird Flu Vaccines

An adjuvant is something that helps a vaccine provoke stronger immunity in the human body. A very good adjuvant can mean that a fraction of the antigen can be used to stimulate the bodies defenses to create immunity to a disease. Since the antigen is the most difficult and expensive component of a vaccine, good adjuvants can be the key to , bird flu or any other kind of vaccine quicker, cheaper and in greater quantities.

Common adjuvants are:

• aluminum hydroxide. The pharmaceutical Sanofit Aventis reported their results of an H5N1 vaccine using aluminum hydroxide as an adjuvant. The research was published in The Lancet and is clearly described in a news bulletin published by The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. Still, the vaccine needed a total of 60 micrograms of antigen split up into two separate injections of 30 micrograms. The quantity is quite high, four times higher than that needed for the seasonal flu shot, and prohibitively expensive and slow in case of a pandemic.

• QS21, a saponin extracted from the soap bark tree (Quillaja saponaria)

• MF59, secret formula developed by Chiron having initial success in early stage of H5N1 vaccine development.

• Adjuvant from GlaxoSmithKline, name not disclosed. In an article from the Washington Post, GlaxoSmithKline claims to have made a vaccine against H5N1 that uses just 3.8 micrograms of antigen to produce a sufficient immune response in the body against the disease. The results have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, the gold standard for scientific information. If the results are solid, the findings are very promising. Such a small quantity of antigen would allow vaccine makers to produce a larger quantity of vaccine cheaper.

Companies that are researching H5N1 vaccines with adjuvants with initial success are:

• Sanofi Pasteur (aluminium hydroxide), of the Sanofi Aventis Group. Alumunum hydroxide is available from many different companies. NYSE: SNY.
• Chiron Avian Influenza site: Chiron is part of the Novartis Group. MF59 is a propietary adjuvant of Chiron. NYSE: NVS.
• GlaxoSmithKline:name of adjuvant not disclosed, propietary information. Press release. NYSE: GSK.

Sources:

• Luke CJ, Subbarao K. Vaccines for pandemic influenza. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2006 Jan [date cited]. See paragraph "Developing Vaccines for Pandemic Influenza" See text http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol12no01/05-1147.htm;
• Palese P. Making better influenza virus vaccines? Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2006 Jan [date cited]. See text http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol12no01/05-1043.htm
• Center for Disease Control. Avian Influenza Vaccine. Updated October 14, 2005. See text http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/gen-info/vaccines.htm
• World Health Organization. Vaccine Research and Development, Current Status. Nov 2005. See text http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/vaccineresearch2005_11_3/en/
• Wikipedia. Adjuvants. QS21]QS21.