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Independent Laboratory Confirms that Microbix' Proprietary Vaccine Technology Significantly Boosts Production of Human Flu Virus From Eggs
Independent Laboratory Confirms that Microbix' Proprietary Vaccine Technology Significantly Boosts Production of Human Flu Virus From Eggs.
About this update from Microbix Biosystems Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\nTORONTO, June 1 /CNW/ - Microbix Biosystems Inc. (TSX:MBX) announced\ntoday that an independent laboratory has confirmed that the Company's\nproprietary technology delivers a two-fold increase in the yield of influenza\nvirus from eggs.\n\"This demonstrates that our Vaccine Technology holds the promise of\nsignificantly increasing global production of influenza vaccines, as well as\nspeeding up development of vaccines in response to new flu strains - both\nimportant factors in combating possible future pandemics,\" said Microbix\nPresident and CEO William J. Gastle.\nMicrobix is now moving to commercial scale-up of the process in a\nlicensed flu vaccine facility, and will be discussing collaboration with\ninterested vaccine manufacturers.\nThe independent evaluation was conducted by Dr. Todd Hatchette, the\nDirector of Virology and Immunology at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences\nCentre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Dr. Hatchette and his team found that\napplication of Microbix' technology doubled the amount of human influenza\nvirus recovered.\nHaving confirmed Microbix' original work, the studies have now switched\nfocus to the avian flu viruses, including the H5N1 vaccine strain. It was\nrecently reported that the H5N1 candidate vaccine virus required a greater\nthan normal amount of virus in a vaccine format to obtain the required\nclinical response.\nAnnual global vaccine production capacity is currently only about \n300 million doses, far short of any potential pandemic requirement.\n\"The independent evaluation should send a signal to the industry, and\nalso to governments, that this technology is important and needs to be\ncommercialized,\" said Gastle.\nThe QEII Health Sciences Centre is the largest academic health sciences\ncomplex in Eastern Canada. Dr. Hatchette, as Director of Virology at the QEII\ncentre, brings his experience in human influenza epidemiology to the\nevaluation. He also studied at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, in\nMemphis, Tennessee, working on influenza virus infection processes, including\npotential pandemic viruses.\n\nMicrobix specializes in developing proprietary biological technologies\nand commercializing them through global partners. The Company has intellectual\nproperty in large market biotherapeutic drugs, vaccine technologies and animal\nreproduction technologies. Es...