And Dr. R. Singhivi, its CEO presented this morning at the BIO & CEO conference in NY to discuss the progress been made on NVAX's Pandemic Flu Vaccine <g>
Here is a copy of the abstract from April last year which has been available online sice August:
Influenza virus-like particles comprised of the HA, NA, and M1 proteins of H9N2 influenza virus induce protective immune responses in BALB/c mice
Avian influenza viruses represent a growing threat for an influenza pandemic.
To develop recombinant vaccine for avian influenza of the H9N2 subtype, we expressed in insect cells virus-like particles (VLPs) consisting of three structural proteins of influenza A/Hong Kong/1073/99 (H9N2) virus.
Upon infection of Sf9 cells with recombinant baculoviruses, the hemagglutinin (HA), neuraminidase (NA), and matrix (M1) proteins were co-expressed in the infected cells, self-assembled, and released into the culture medium as VLPs of 80–120 nm in diameter.
VLPs exhibited functional characteristics of influenza virus including hemagglutination and neuraminidase activities.
In BALB/c mice, VLPs elicited serum antibodies specific for influenza A/Hong Kong/1073/99 (H9N2) virus and inhibited replication of the influenza virus after challenge.
Thus, VLPs represent a potential strategy for the development of human vaccines against avian influenza H9N2 viruses. |
