Next Generation Smallpox Vaccine In Trials
Interim data
from a phase I/II U.S. clinical trial of a next-generation vaccine for
smallpox suggest the vaccine provides immunity without adverse events.
LC16m8 is a
live attenuated smallpox vaccine that is produced in cell culture from
vaccinia virus that has been attenuated, or modified, so that it can initiate
an immune response without causing serious adverse effects. It has been
licensed in Japan since 1980.
"The preliminary
study results are consistent with the far larger Japanese experience,"
Dr. Richard Greenberg of the Kentucky School of Medicine, told the 2005
American Society for Microbiology Biodefense Research Meeting.
"LC16m8, an
attenuated smallpox vaccine, has had a 100 percent take rate and has been
well tolerated -- intensive monitoring for myopericarditis has not uncovered
any cardiac toxicity in the first 66 volunteers."
"Take rate"
is a measure of a smallpox vaccine's effectiveness in producing an immune
response.
The only smallpox
vaccine licensed for use in the United States is made from unattenuated
vaccinia virus and it has been associated with potentially fatal encephalitis
and heart inflammation.
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Copyright 2005 by United
Press International.
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