VACCINE PRODUCTION :

Cell-culture technology needed, says top scientist.

APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL & ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT

Thailand's efforts to develop a vaccine against influenza face a stumbling block due to a lack of advanced technology and funds, a top vaccine researcher has warned. Sutee Yoksan, director of the centre for vaccine development at Mahidol University, said the country is in urgent need of cell-culture technology, which is essential for developing influenza and bird flu vaccines for industry use.

''Although the government will give 1.5 billion baht for the construction of a vaccine plant, that is not enough,'' he said after a meeting with the National Committee on Vaccine Development.

''We have to better prepare our human resources and facilities by ourselves, rather than waiting for technological know-know transfer from other countries.''

The Public Health Ministry is seeking partners in China to help develop an influenza vaccine for commercial use.

Dr Sutee, an expert on dengue vaccine development, said Thailand relied too much on old-fashioned technology derived from experiments on the brains of mice. Many developed countries had switched to cell-culture technology, which uses human cells, in vaccine production.

Public Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla said the ministry would set up a sub-committee to speed up vaccine development.

He gave no details of the funding, saying only that the national committee would meet next month to discuss the matter.

The Public Health Ministry will press ahead with its for plan for compulsory licencing to import cheaper versions of the anti-Aids drug Kaletra and an antiplatelet agent, Plavix.

Compulsory licencing is allowed by the World Trade Organisation for a government to import or produce patented drugs for needy people.

The ministry sought compulsory licencing for Efavirenz last November but importation has been delayed.

Dr Mongkol conceded there were both technical problems and commercial pressure, but said the delivery of Efavirenz could be made by Feb 10.

Sources said importation of the 65,000 bottles of Efavirenz would come in four lots, with the first lot of 16,000 bottles.

About 3,000 out of 50,000 HIV-positive people taking GPO-VIR have developed resistance to the drug, and stronger anti-retroviral [ARV] drugs such as Kaletra are needed.

''It is not extraordinary that we use the mechanism. The US has also applied it with 300 patented drugs. The ARVs that we import will help alleviate the burden of HIV/Aids patients, from spending 2,000 baht per month to 680 baht per month,'' Dr Mongkol said.

The government intended to use the mechanism only when necessary.

Multi-corporation pharmacies have lobbied hard against compulsory licencing, resulting in the delay of the Efavirenz delivery. The deal was signed last November but the drug, to be imported from India, could not be delivered until next month, sources said.

Meanwhile, Thailand is set to be the first country to successfully develop a vaccine for dengue fever. There were 42,456 cases of dengue fever last year alone, according to the Disease Control Department.

The Centre for Vaccine Development is currently working with two vaccine manufacturers, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur, in a bid to prepare for the phase-three trial of the dengue vaccine in humans.

The trial, in Ratchaburi's Muang district, will involve about 3,100 participants aged three to nine years.

General News
Bangkok Post
Thursday January 25, 2007