Bird-Flu Vaccine May Be Ready by Next Year

A Thai worker carries chicken out of a farm during the culling of chicken in Suphanburi province, central Thailand, Jan. 16, 2004. It is likely that a group of chickens in northern Thailand that died last week from bird flu carried the virulent H5N1 type of the virus, a Thai agricultural official said Monday, July 24, 2006. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong, File) (Apichart Weerawong - AP)

Glaxo's chief executive officer, J.P. Garnier, said the preliminary findings validate this approach, and that the company expects to seek regulatory approval "in the coming months."

While cautioning that it's still early in the testing, some pandemic flu experts are optimistic that this may ultimately lead to production of many more doses of pandemic vaccine.

However, Dr. Klaus Stohr, a World Health Organization flu vaccine adviser, said it would have been better if the adjuvant was a substance widely available to other companies rather than a Glaxo company product.

"Access for other companies to use it will most likely be limited," he said.

More than 20 clinical trials involving potential H5N1 vaccines are being underaken by more than 30 companies.

Glaxo's success also would not guarantee that all people and countries would be protected in the event of a flu pandemic. Flu viruses mutate so readily that it may ultimately be a different strain of the virus that threatens people.

"It's a risk judgment for those potentially purchasing vaccine," said Dr. Angus Nicoll, influenza coordinator at the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. Because it is impossible to predict which influenza strain will spark the next pandemic, "it's a very difficult decision for a country to decide whether to invest in pandemic vaccines," he said.

In May, the U.S. government awarded more than $1 billion to five companies, including Glaxo, which are developing faster ways to mass produce vaccine in case of a pandemic. The government also has ordered millions of dollars worth of Aventis' experimental vaccine to stockpile in case bird flu starts spreading more easily from person to person.

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AP Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione contributed to this report from Milwaukee.

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