Generex Biotechnology to accelerate avian flu vaccine development

By Jennifer Chiou

New York, Oct. 19 - Generex Biotechnology Corp. said wholly owned subsidiary Antigen Express, Inc. will speed development of a vaccine to protect against the H5N1 avian influenza.

"The threat of a pandemic by avian influenza has made it clear that yesterday's vaccine technologies are woefully insufficient," Antigen president Eric von Hofe said in a news release.

"The vaccines being developed at Antigen Express have a clear role to play in responding to threats posed by agents such as H5N1 influenza."

Drawbacks to current vaccine development efforts include the inability to manufacture enough vaccine in the event of an avian flu pandemic and the two-dose requirement to achieve protective immunity.

However, the Antigen Express vaccine can expand and strengthen the T helper cell response to a lower dose of classically produced vaccine and the Ii-Key/H5 hybrids can be synthesized less expensively and in large quantities, according to Generex.

A similar vaccine peptide, designed using a portion of a protein expressed in breast cancer cells modified with Ii-Key, is in clinical trials at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Generex , which researches and develops drug delivery systems and technologies, is based in Toronto.

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