Drugmaker Sinergium to share bird flu vaccine data globally, says WHO
By Emma Farge
GENEVA, July 29 (Reuters) -Bird flu vaccine developer Sinergium Biotech will share its data with manufacturers in low and middle-income countries to help to accelerate a fair rollout if a pandemic occurs, the World Health Organization said on Monday.
The Argentine private sector biopharmaceutical company is at an early stage of developing mRNA vaccines against the H5N1 virus and has pledged to share its findings with a network of partner manufacturers set up by the WHO during the peak of COVID-19 to help poorer countries to gain access to life-saving medical tools.
Until now, the WHO has assisted partners but this is the first time one of them with a vaccine in development has volunteered to share it with others.
"Partners interested in this will be able to start getting their fingers wet, beginning to practise with an H5N1 candidate so that if a pandemic was to start ... they would already have the necessary tools in their facilities," said Dr Martin Friede, head of the WHO vaccine research unit.
The WHO's mRNA technology transfer hub programme includes manufacturers in 15 countries, though not all are fully established. Among those involved in the programme are Biovac in South Africa and Institut Pasteur in Senegal.
The South African centre was set up after global pharmaceuticals companies including Moderna and Pfizer (PFE.N) declined to provide the technical know-how to replicate their COVID vaccines, mainly owing to intellectual property concerns.
The outbreak of H5N1 in dairy cows and some farm workers in the United States prompted Washington to award $176 million to Moderna MRNA.O to advance development of its bird flu vaccine.
While the WHO has said the risk to the public from the avian influenza virus remains low and that it is not spreading between people, they say it has the potential to cause a future pandemic because of its widespread circulation in animals.
While Friede acknowledges that the likes of Moderna and Pfizer would be able to produce vaccines much more quickly than manufacturers in the WHO programme, he said that the scheme would allow Sinergium's partners to begin production reasonably quickly and help to keep poorer countries from being reliant on handouts.
There are vaccines available for the H5N1 strain that is spreading among cows in the United States, but they are mostly made using chicken eggs, which means they would take months to produce at scale if needed.
Sinergium's mRNA flu vaccine has yet to be tested in people, the WHO said, so it would require human trials before use.
Moderna's mRNA H5N1 flu vaccine is further advanced, with late-stage trials in humans expected to take place next year.
Reporting by Emma Farge
Additional reporting by Jennifer Rigby in London
Editing by David Goodman
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
