| Human trials of bird flu vaccine begin The competition for budget funds that will be allocated by the state to prevent the bird flu epidemic has moved from the stage of abundant self-promotion by pharmaceutical manufacturers into a struggle to ensure monopoly access to financial flows from the sanitary and preventive treasury. The one who will be the first to offer the market a ready-made vaccine will get this access, at least at the initial stage. And yesterday, the first clinical trials of two drugs were launched by the Microgen Research and Production Association, which only last week received permission from Roszdravnadzor to recruit 240 volunteers. The first eight of them had needles stuck into their “soft spots” yesterday.
The reaction of the volunteers’ immune system will be monitored by specialists from the Influenza Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (St. Petersburg) and the Mechnikov Research Institute of Vaccines and Serums of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (Moscow). According to scientists, volunteers are not in danger of any trouble, since the vaccine is based on the so-called “killed” strain. However, they will have to regularly have their blood tested and monitor their body temperature.
“In two weeks we will have tentative data on the effectiveness of the vaccine,” promised Oleg Kiselev, director of the Influenza Research Institute. “And by August of this year, we should have a fairly high level of preparedness to counter the virus in connection with the autumn migration of birds.” The head of NPO Microgen, Anton Katlinsky, who led the development of the drug, is optimistic. "The results of the vaccine's animal testing give us cautious optimism about its effectiveness against the H5N1 strain," he said. According to Mr. Katlinsky, who proudly announced that its development is at the forefront not only in Russia, but also in the world, where only six companies have already completed testing of the bird flu vaccine, Microgen's enterprises will need only a month and a half to release the first industrial batch of the drug with a volume of one million doses.
However, it is not a fact that these priorities will bring immediate dividends. Firstly, because today, when the virus is transmitted only between birds, the new drug remains, in the words of Oleg Kiselev, a “reserve vaccine.” “It will be at the disposal of the chief sanitary doctor, and in the event of evidence of transmission of the avian virus, the group between people will be updated,” explained the director of the Influenza Research Institute, saying that he does not see the need to vaccinate the entire population, much less turn vaccinations into a “vaccine business.” . Irina BELASHEVA |
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