 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
Chinese lab ready to soar with swine flu vaccine
Beijing (AFP) Sept 3, 2009 Up-and-coming Chinese biotech firm Sinovac, already listed in the United States, could get a significant boost abroad after securing government approval to produce its one-dose swine flu vaccine. China's State Food and Drug Administration on Thursday gave the company the green light to make the vaccine, which has been shown in clinical trials to be effective against A(H1N1) influenza after just one shot. "We have not found any negative side-effects -- it is safe and reliable," Sinovac president Yin Weidong told AFP in an interview ahead of the decision at his offices in Beijing's Zhongguancun district, or "China's Silicon Valley". The company, which was founded in 2001, has been working feverishly since mid-June to produce the vaccine. In mid-August, it announced that the vaccine had performed well in trials conducted on more than 1,600 test subjects. "We've taken advantage of our experience with bird flu in 2004, which has helped us to be ready and work quickly this time around, in terms of research and production," said the 45-year-old Yin. The major advantage of the Sinovac vaccine, as compared with products made by major Western pharmaceuticals companies, would be the need for only one dose, resulting in both cost-effectiveness and a greater ability to stockpile. "For a country as big as China, with such a huge population, this is an important asset," Yin explained. Hans Troedsson, the outgoing representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in China, told AFP that a one-dose vaccine would be "very important as it means we can vaccinate twice as many". He also hailed China's efforts to quickly develop and produce a vaccine, given its status as the world's most populous nation with 1.3 billion inhabitants. The SFDA said Thursday that it was considering applications from nine other Chinese companies seeking to produce A(H1N1) vaccines. The WHO has warned of a possible swine flu vaccine shortage, as the winter -- and the regular flu season -- approaches in the northern hemisphere. The government here plans to vaccinate 65 million people, or five percent of the population, before year's end. Yin refused to speculate on the gravity of the global swine flu pandemic, or whether vaccinations are indeed the most reliable method of prevention. "Everyone has his or her opinion on these matters, but my job is to carry out research on vaccines and produce them. I have to prepare for the worst," he said. "If the worst were to happen, we would be ready to give the highest number of vaccinations in the shortest amount of time." Yin and Sinovac are symbols of the emphasis China has placed on parlaying high-tech innovation into economic growth. The firm's efforts have not gone unnoticed -- President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have visited the lab. The company contributed research to the 2003 global battle against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed about 800 people around the world, including 350 in China. Yin said that experience has helped Sinovac position itself at the forefront of the campaign against swine flu, as its labs already adhere to international standards and his experts regularly confer with their peers abroad. Sinovac has a total of 400 employees. A quarter of them are involved in research activities. The company, which had sales of 20 million dollars in the first six months of 2009, up 21 percent from the same period a year ago, also hopes that success with a swine flu vaccine could boost its international profile. "Most of our vaccines, about 90 percent of them, are sold in China. This is a chance for more countries to know about us and trust our products," Yin said. Shuang Lewis, an analyst at IHS Global Insight, said Sinovac was "poised to see a major boost from this development". "The company is also likely to benefit from this latest development in the longer term as there will be more opportunities for potential team-up with big pharmas" on vaccine development, Lewis said. Sinovac's Yin says being the first company in China to mass-produce a vaccine makes no difference to him, as the fight against A(H1N1) "is not like the race for an Olympic gold medal". "The most important thing is to protect as many people as possible," he said. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Epidemics on Earth - Bird Flu, HIV/AIDS, Ebola
Flu threat rules out election hugs and handshakesOslo (AFP) Sept 1, 2009 The threat of swine flu causing empty voting booths and bedridden politicians is being taken seriously ahead of Norway's general election this month. Politicians are trying to avoid hugs and handshakes and carry around disinfectant with them, while campaign workers wear throwaway gloves to give out free cups of coffee ahead of the September 14 vote. As pollsters predict a close race ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2009 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook