NEW YORK, July 26 (UPI) -- U.S. drug maker GlaxoSmithKline says it has developed a bird flu vaccine that is more effective and requires smaller doses than any previous version.
The new version could be used to immunize people with relatively small doses -- increasing the possibility that enough of the vaccine can be produced to protect much of the U.S. population if there is a bird flu pandemic, The New York Times reported.
Public health officials have been concerned that -- until now, at least -- vaccines required high dosage amounts, making it unlikely that enough avian flu vaccine could be produced to cope with a pandemic, the newspaper said.
GlaxoSmithKline said Wednesday it has tested the new version of its vaccine in Belgium in 400 subjects ages 18 to 60. Subsequent tests showed more than 80 percent of the subjects were protected by two shots, each containing 3.8 micrograms of an immunity-stimulating substance made from the bird flu virus.
An earlier vaccine protected only about half of test subjects, who received two shots of about 90 micrograms each, the Times said.
