Avir Green Hills starts next-gen flu spray Ph I

Avir Green Hills Biotechnology, based in Vienna, Austria, has started the first clinical Phase I study for its novel influenza vaccine FLUVACC, which is based on the deletion of the NS1 gene. This week, the first eight volunteers were vaccinated in collaboration with the Medical University Vienna at the General Hospital. The protection rate is expected to surpass the rate achieved with currently available vaccines. With this step, Avir Green Hills says it has accomplished an important milestone in the development of more effective influenza vaccines based on a novel mechanism.

FLUVACC differs from a conventional influenza vaccine in three major characteristics and in the method of production, says the firm, explaining that it is administered as an intranasal spray and promises better and broader protection than currently-available vaccines.

The delNS technology is based on the deletion of the pathogenicity factor NS1. The resulting vaccine strain still looks like a pathogenic influenza virus to the body but is unable to cause disease. As a result, FLUVACC stimulates a strong immune response, which protects against influenza, says the Austrian firm.