According to a report in the Financial Times this morning researchers in the US and the Netherlands claim to have made a breakthrough in the search for a universal flu vaccine.
"Two US research teams have carried out successful animal tests of experimental influenza vaccines that could prevent infection with any strain of the highly variable flu virus.
“Finding a “universal vaccine” that eliminates the need for annual flu shots and protects against new pandemic strains is one of the highest priorities in clinical virology,” the FT reported.
"Scientists reported progress in two separate papers in the journals Science and Nature Medicine. One team is a collaboration between the Scripps Research Institute in California and the Janssen Prevention Centre in the Netherlands, part of the Johnson and Johnson pharmaceutical group; the other is at the US National Institutes of Health in Maryland.
“We are moving in the right direction for a universal influenza vaccine,” said Ian Wilson, professor of biology at Scripps. “This was the proof of principle . . . The ultimate goal of course would be to create a life-long vaccine,” the FT reported.
CSL has long had a solid flu business and has spent $US275 million buying the flu business of Novartis, a deal that just closed.
That purchase made CSL the second biggest flu vaccine company in the world.
But this involves annual flu shots and the research reported on by the FT is seeking to eliminate that and turn produce a vaccine offering life long immunity against all strains of the disease.
The research outlined in the FT story clearly has further to go before it can be turned into a vaccine, but it is a big potential game changing development, judging what we now know. Will CSL match it?
CSL shares have fallen nearly 12% from the all time high of $A100.79 on August 4. the ended at $88.29 yesterday. The fall has been part of the sell off in all shares in the past three weeks.
