ProImmune initiates study of vacc design technology

UK-based biotechnology firm ProImmune says it has begun a pilot study of REVEAL & ProVE, a novel technology for the identification of targets for vaccine development. The system allows researchers to analyze any protein derived from a pathogen for potential immunogenicity in clinical patient samples within four weeks, potentially cutting vaccine development time by many months.

The study will use the platform to examine the protein sequence of the H5 avian influenza virus antigen, and will publish its findings as they emerge on the company's web site: www.proimmune.com. The firm says that publication of the data will allow interested parties and researchers to examine ProImmune's data and to assess the benefit of any clinical development collaborations.

ProImmune's chief executive, Nikolai Schwabe said that the technology could play a key role in the rapid development of a vaccine against H5N1 avian influenza, should the virus mutate into a human-to-human transmisable form.