New Flu Vaccine Shows Promise

Heard of FluB1OK? It's a flu vaccine, but it's not available yet - it's still being investigated by researchers. A promising new study indicates that FluB1OK may be a viable alternative to current vaccines, one which could be produced quickly in the event of a flu pandemic.

The results of the study appear in the April 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study was conducted by researchers from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, the University of Rochester and the University of Virginia. Protein Sciences Corp. of Meriden, Connecticut, the company which manufactures FluB1OK, sponsored the research.

Approximately 300 subjects received injections of FluB1OK. 153 subjects were injected with a smaller dose, 75 micrograms; and another 153 subjects received a larger dose, 135 micrograms. A control group of 154 participants received a placebo. The vaccines were specifically created to fight off those strains of the flu which were expected to be most common in the 2004-05 season.

The results were impressive. None of the subjects who were given the larger dose developed the flu, and only about 1 percent of those who received the smaller dose got the flu. By contrast, nearly 5 percent of those who got the placebo contracted the flu.

FluB1OK is derived from insect cells, while current vaccines are derived from hens' eggs. This means that large quantities of FluB1OK could be made more quickly than egg-based vaccines in the event of a large-scale flu outbreak.

"All currently licensed influenza vaccines in the United States are produced in embryonic hens' eggs," wrote the study authors. "[E]ggs require specialized manufacturing facilities and could be difficult to scale up rapidly in response to an emerging need such as a pandemic."