A new vaccine fighting several strains of the flu, including the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, at the same time may be available within several years, according to researchers at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

The new vaccine will be based on human antibodies that were found to neutralize several strains of influenza A viruses, according to Wayne A. Marasco, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute,

 

“These flu antibodies can be developed into fully human antibody drugs that could be used in the clinic” in the same way antiviral medications, such as Tamiflu, are used today, Dr. Marasco said.

 

The findings were welcomed with high hopes by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, the sponsor the study. Anthony Fauci, the institute’s director, said “this is an elegant research finding that holds considerable promise for further development into a medical tool to treat and prevent seasonal as well as pandemic influenza.”

 

It is true that these antibodies were tested only on lab mice and cell cultures, but the researchers expressed optimism that they could work in humans too. Dr. Marasco said the next step is to test the antibodies in ferrets, and then to develop an appropriate version for human clinical trials as soon as 2011 to 2012.

 

“The antibodies we characterize in our published works are molecules to go into clinical trials and hopefully one day, will be approved for into human treatment,” Dr. Marasco said.

 

The study was published in the Sunday edition of the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.