Bird Flu: Science and Policy

[DewDiligence]

Akzo Nobel to test mass bird flu vaccine

http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20060612:MTFH69556_2...

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By Harro ten Wolde

AMSTERDAM, June 12 (Reuters) - A bird flu vaccine prototype that can be sprayed to inoculate large avian populations is ready for testing next year, Dutch chemical group Akzo Nobel NV <AKZO.AS> <AKZOY.O> said on Monday.

The prototype, developed by Akzo's animal health unit Intervet, is effective against avian influenza and another ailment that afflicts birds, Newcastle Disease, the company said. It is designed to make it easier to inoculate large bird populations.

"The prototype combines the efficacy of the present vaccines with a mass application tool and could prove invaluable in helping to quickly protect large numbers of birds, which currently have to be injected individually," Toon Wilderbeek, Akzo's executive in charge of pharmaceuticals, said in a statement.

The H5N1 avian influenza, which has spread out of Asia into Africa and across Europe, has killed or forced the culling of tens of millions of birds. In January, the virus had killed 79 people, all of them in Asia. Now it has infected at least 224 people in 10 countries, and killed 127 of them, according to a recent report by the World Health Organization.

Although analysts welcomed the news, they noted a human vaccine for bird flu would be a more significant development.

"The vaccine will probably generate not more than 50 million euros ($63.11 million) in annual sales," analyst Mark van der Geest at Rabo Securities said of Akzo's plans to test the bird vaccine.
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