Online BusinessNovartis' swine flu vaccine shows encouraging results
Swiss drug maker Novartis today said its newly developed vaccine ‘Celtura’ against Influenza A H1N1 (swine flu) has shown effective result during a pilot test conducted by it.
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The test, done on 100 healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 50 by Leicester University of Britain, has shown a protective immune response in the case of 80 per cent of the volunteers, administered with a single dose of the vaccine, Novartis said in a statement.
The response in case of volunteers having two doses of vaccines was more than 90 per cent, it added.
“The pilot results are encouraging,” Novartis’ CEO, Vaccines and Diagnostics, Andrin Oswald said, adding, “The study suggests that while two doses seem to provide better protection, one dose of our adjuvanted Celtura vaccine may be sufficient to protect adults against the swine flu.”
According to industry experts, a vaccine response of above 60 per cent can be termed as successful and has the potential to hit the market soon.
The Swiss drug maker also said more trials involving 6,000 volunteers, including children, are already under way.
However, the company has not provided details about the availability of vaccine in the market.