Hungary bird flu vaccine sparks foreign interest
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The United States, Britain and Russia have expressed interest in an experimental Hungarian vaccine against deadly bird flu after initial human tests proved promising, Hungary’s government said on Thursday.
Other countries interested in buying the vaccine include Indonesia, Ukraine, the Philippines and Mongolia, but concrete talks on purchases had not started yet, government spokesman Andras Batiz said.
The vaccine, applicable for the deadly H5N1 form of the virus, was tested on around 100 volunteers including Hungary’s health minister in late September. Preliminary results released on Wednesday indicated the necessary immune response needed for effectiveness.
The H5N1 strain has killed 67 people in Asia over the past two years and is now creeping into Europe and towards Africa. There are fears that it could mutate and start being spread from person to person, potentially setting off a human pandemic.
Hungary says it could eventually produce 500,000 vaccines a week, and that it would require 3.5 million doses for its population of 10 million. It could later raise production to tens of millions if needed for export.
The Hungarian vaccines would cost $5-6 each, with revenues split between the state and Omninvest, a private company that will manufacture the drugs. Hungarian citizens would get the jabs for free.
The vaccine’s development, carried out by Hungary’s national epidemiology centre and Omninvest, would have to be restarted if a virus strain other than H5N1 were to infect humans.
French company Sanofi-Aventis has developed a vaccine against the current H5N1 strain that has proved effective in stimulating an immune response in healthy adults.
The U.S. government has ordered 2 million doses of the vaccine from Sanofi for a national stockpile and is negotiating with the company to order more.
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