Chinese scientists have developed human vaccines for bird flu pandemic and will carry out clinical tests in days.
Liu Yanhua, vice minister of Science and Technology who is in charge of the vaccine research and development, said here Monday that Chinese scientists are now keeping abreast with the peers overseas in this field.
Yin Weidong, principal investigator for the vaccine project, said they have developed vaccines on the basis of the NIBRG-14 virus strain and standardized procedure for purifying vaccines and testing virus.
Lab tests proved that the vaccines are safe and effective on mice. Yin acknowledged.
The team has submitted the samples over to the State Food and Drug Administration for clinical test approval. The first-phase clinical tests are scheduled from late November.
So far, China's production line has got ready for the mass production of its human bird flu vaccine. High-risk groups, such as poultry farm workers and medical staffers in the bird flu outbreak areas will be vaccinated as long as the vaccine passes safety test, according to the experts.
Meanwhile, China is also able to update the human bird flu vaccine in case of virus mutation. It can develop new vaccine in four months after the virus mutates, said Wang Xiaofang, director of the rural and social development department under the Ministry of Science and Technology.
The United States announced in August that its H5N1 bird flu vaccine for human use underwent human tests. The European influenza experts claimed last month that they developed the first human vaccine for H7N1 bird flu virus strain. And in October, Britain's biggest drugs company GlaxoSmithKline said its vaccine for H5N1 human bird flu may be tested by the end of the year.
