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MD oversees trials for universal flu shot

If successful, vaccine available in 5 to 7 years

By: Larry Kusch

Posted: 07/14/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Dr. Gary Kobinger is directing trials of a universal flu vaccine Inovio is developing. (JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

Imagine a vaccine that could protect you from H1N1 and the avian flu in addition to seasonal flu.

And it would even guard against new flu strains -- only requiring the occasional booster shot.

A Philadelphia research company -- with ties to Winnipeg's National Microbiology Laboratory -- believes it may be on the road to discovering this holy grail of flu vaccines.

Joseph Kim, president and CEO of Inovio Pharmaceuticals, said the company may be five to seven years from releasing a universal flu vaccine, if a series of trials, including one in Winnipeg, is successful.

"Conventional vaccines over the last 100 years or so have probably saved more lives than any other human invention," Kim said.

But the technology has become stagnant, especially flu vaccines, he said. The seasonal flu shot, offering protection from three strains of influenza, changes from year to year. And its success varies from season to season.

Inovio has come up with a synthetic DNA vaccine it believes will offer protection against past and future influenza strains. It was developed using computer code DNA of all the flu strains in the past 100 years. Kim said the company has seen positive initial results in testing of its SynCon vaccine against six representative strains of the deadly H5N1 (avian flu) virus.

In Winnipeg, it will test the vaccine's effectiveness in the 65-plus population. Fifty people are enrolled in the phase one study under the direction of Dr. Gary Kobinger, head of special pathogens at the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Kobinger, known for his work in the treatment of the Ebola virus, has collaborated with researchers at Inovio for several years. He met them during his years in post-doctoral studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

"Imagine the relief for a lot of people, including for public health (officials) at all levels (if the research is successful)," Kobinger said.

The Winnipeg study will compare the effectiveness of the test vaccine with the seasonal flu shot. Twenty seniors will receive only the test vaccine, 20 will receive it and the seasonal flu shot, while 10 subjects will receive only the seasonal flu shot.

Other small-scale trials involving adults aged 18 to 50 are being conducted in the U.S. Researchers will assess the tolerability, safety and effectiveness of the new vaccine. Blood tests will be used to measure the immune responses. If all goes well, large-scale trials, tracking the health of hundreds or thousands of people, will be conducted.

"By late spring or early summer of next year, we're going to have a very strong indication of whether our universal flu vaccine strategy is working or not in humans," Kim said.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 14, 2012 A7

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