December 16, 2005

Canadian company tests new technique for bird flu vaccine

A small Canadian company is testing a new technique to create a potential vaccine against bird flu.

The Ottawa-based company, Variations Biotechnologies, is in the final stages of testing its vaccine on chickens after studying the genetic makeup of the virus to focus on its vulnerabilities, and then developing a serum that is most likely to defeat the H5N1 bird flu strain.

The chickens which have been given the serum will be then be exposed to the strain to test if the vaccination works. Results will be known end-January.

Preliminary tests using mice had indicated there was a level of immunity produced from this vaccine, said Dr Paul Kitching of the Canadian Food Inspection.