The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 280 No 7486 p76
26 January 2008

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News summary

Perennial flu vaccine hope

An influenza vaccine which targets a part of the virus that does not vary across “A” strains has shown promise in early studies.

Acambis’s vaccine targets the M2e peptide, which is found unchanged on all “A” strains of influenza. The vaccine could, the company hopes, overcome the need to develop new vaccines every year to match circulating strains.

A phase I clinical trial showed the vaccine to be well tolerated and immunogenic. Animal studies showed the vaccine could protect against the H5N1 strain of avian influenza.