Early trials positive for new flu vaccine

Deerfield, Ill.-- An Illinois pharmaceutical company is reporting good results from early stage clinical trials on humans for a modernized seasonal flu vaccine.

Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter International is developing a vaccine using cell tissues, a method that will permit manufacturers to produce vaccines faster than the current method developed in the 1940s, The Chicago Tribune reported Monday.

Baxter's cell-based approach is a sharp contrast to the current method of injecting a strain of the flu virus into a chicken egg and letting it incubate for several months. The Tribune said that method involved hand-processing millions of chicken eggs and is tedious and risky.

Baxter is said to be several years away from winning approval for its vaccine. However, the company said its product is showing "strong antibody responses and good tolerability" in early clinical trials, the newspaper reported.
Late in 2004, Baxter had to suspend its final stage human study because the vaccine caused fevers in some patients.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.