LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill., July 11 (UPI) -- U.S. firm BioSante Pharmaceuticals said Wednesday it has data suggesting its nanoparticle-based vaccine adjuvant BioVant works for bird flu.
The company said a study in rodents showed the calcium phosphate, nanoparticle-based vaccine adjuvant, BioVant prompted an immune response that was four times that seen using the the H5N1 antigen alone.
The study's goal was to assess whether BioVant enhances the body's own immune response to the H5N1 virus.
In the study, researchers used 3 micrograms of H5N1 antigen in each vaccine dose, compared to a 90-microgram dosage of H5N1 antigen used in a recently approved bird flu vaccine, BioSante said.
"We are working to create a vaccine using our BioVant that would be given at lower doses per injection, yet still confer a higher level of immunity than the currently approved vaccine," said Stephen Simes, president and chief executive officer of BioSante.
"According to a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the currently approved bird-flu vaccine without an adjuvant by a European drug company is effective only at high doses (90 micrograms per dose) and only 54 percent of subjects produced the desired immune response, he said. "We believe a BioVant-adjuvanted H5N1 vaccine may use less antigen per dose and protect a higher percentage of the population."
