NH&MRC Grant To Support 'bird Flu' Vaccine Project, Australia

Main Category: Bird Flu / Avian Flu
Also Included In: Immune System / Vaccines
Article Date: 23 Feb 2006 - 11:00 PDT

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The Board of Directors of EQiTX Limited (ASX: EQX) announced today that Dr David Jackson, the Chief Scientist of its affiliated company VacTX Pty Ltd, and colleagues have been awarded a grant by the National Health and Medical Research Council under its call for urgent research into a potential avian influenza-induced pandemic. The grant is to develop a vaccine to avian influenza ('bird flu') using the VacTX proprietary lipopeptide vaccine technology.

The vaccine to be studied aims to provide broad protection against a range of different influenza isolates by stimulating a cellular response that destroys the virus in the lung before it can multiply enough to cause serious illness. This vaccine strategy is novel because it is expected that the immune response will be fully reactivated a few days after a vaccinated person is infected. This immune response would then help to clear lung cells infected with the influenza virus more quickly.

Dr Jackson said, 'All of the available influenza vaccines rely on their ability to induce antibody to limit infection with influenza, but are rendered ineffective if the virus changes to a new version. The vaccine being investigated aims to program the body's immune killer cells (cytotoxic T lymphocytes) to target parts of the virus that don't change from one generation of virus to the next. We believe that these killer cells will be activated to clear the avian influenza virus before it reaches lethal levels and already have evidence in animals that this happens'.

The funded studies build upon the recently published findings of Dr Jackson and his colleagues that lipopeptide vaccines enhance the clearance of influenza virus from the lungs of vaccinated mice (Deliyannis G et al, Eur J Immunol 2006; dx.doi.org/10.1002/eji.200535217). The grant of $211,000 over a period of 18 months will fund laboratory and animal studies on the efficacy of a human avian influenza vaccine.

Dr Kevin Fahey, the Executive Chairman of VacTX said, 'If the studies undertaken by Dr Jackson and colleagues show that the VacTX lipopeptide vaccine technology can be used to develop a vaccine that protects against a broad range of influenza strains, including avian influenza, VacTX will seek partnerships or public support to move the vaccine into full development for use in humans.'

Dr Fahey added, 'While Dr Jackson and his colleagues are researching a lipopeptide vaccine for influenza, VacTX will continue its in-house development of lipopeptide vaccines to treat allergy and asthma and cardiovascular disease. These projects are progressing well and we look forward to updating the market with results in the coming months.

About EqiTX

EQiTX Limited (ASX:EQX) is a publicly listed Australian biotechnology company with interests in the areas of chronic diseases and age-related conditions. EQiTX is developing a portfolio of technologies to a stage where they will be of commercial interest to multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The company's two main programs are the ZingoTX project to develop pharmacologically active compounds for pain management, and the VacTX project to develop and commercialise novel synthetic immunotherapeutics against a range of human conditions, including infectious diseases, cancer, allergies and autoimmune diseases.

http://www.eqitx.com

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