Avian Flu vaccines

Positive preclinical results from a bird flu vaccine helped boost several companies working to develop similar technology as fears over a possible pandemic linger.

Rockville, Md.-based Novavax Inc. said Monday its virus-like particle vaccine, which mimics a virus, was effective in evoking an immune response in ferrets and protecting against the H9N2 strain. The vaccine has previously been tested in mice with the H9N2 strain of avian influenza, or bird flu.

Novavax shares rose 59 cents, or 22.8 percent, to $3.18 in afternoon trading.

On Sunday, the Egyptian health ministry reported that three children contracted bird flu, bringing the number of Egyptians who have contracted the disease to 33 since first reports last year of the disease, of which 13 have died. The H5N1 strain of the virus has killed 166 people worldwide since 2003.

Bird flu has now traveled through large swaths of the globe and has been reported in Asia, Africa and Europe, often resulting in large bird culls. Several other companies developing flu vaccines and listed on the Nasdaq gained during the trading session.

AVI Biopharma Inc. is working on developing Neugene to target various strains of the disease, including those that primarily affect humans, such as H1N1, H2N2 and H3N2, as well as those that have spread to bird flocks and have scientists worried they could mutate and cause a pandemic.

Shares of Portland, Ore.-based AVI jumped 23 cents, or 8.6 percent, to $2.91 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Carrington Laboratories Inc., which received a patent for last year to expand a flu vaccine, saw shares fall 6 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $2.67 during the session. Meanwhile, Gilead Sciences Inc., which makes Tamiflu, fell 28 cents to $76.37.

Hemispherx Biopharma Inc., which develops treatments for viral and immune-based conditions, gained 3 cents to reach $1.66 on the American Stock Exchange.

source:www.businessweek.com