The British company Acambis said Phase I clinical and pre-clinical data suggest the firm's M2e-based universal influenza vaccine, Acam-Flu-A, has the potential to provide protection against strains of Influenza A. The vaccine targets the M2e peptide, which is found unchanged on the surface of all "A" strains of the influenza virus, including all pandemic influenza strains.

The Phase 1 trial was a double-blind, placebo-controlled study conducted in three U.S. locations. The vaccine was shown to be immunogenic and well-tolerated, with no serious adverse events, the company said Thursday in a release.

Acam-Flu-A is a recombinant vaccine that uses a hepatitis B core protein (HBc) to present M2e, the extracellular domain of the ion channel protein M2(5). The company said the vaccine has the potential to be both a "universal pandemic or pre-pandemic influenza vaccine and part of a universal seasonal vaccine."

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